Betrayal
by frustratedpopcorn
Summary: Katniss and her family move clear across the country to search for a better life, but when someone she never wants to see again crosses paths with her, Katniss is almost certain her life will never be peaceful. Katniss/Cato, Modern Day
1. Chapter 1

Katniss glanced back one last time at her old, tumbledown home. She was moving across the whole country, and didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to the home she lived in for sixteen long years.

After Mr. Everdeen's tragic death 2 years ago, Mrs. Everdeen shut down. She was always in a different world, with a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes. Katniss was devastated when her father passed away, and she then the caretaker of the family. Everyone relied on Katniss, her younger sister Prim, and even her mother.

Katniss climbed into the cab, carrying her father's brown leather suitcase and a bag of food. Prim followed, carrying her flowered backpack, with numerous holes in it. Mrs. Everdeen climbed in last with a fairly large black backpack.

The cab started to drive, farther and farther away from home. The tiny brick house grew smaller and smaller, until it could not be seen. Everyone was extremely quiet, until Prim broke down sobbing. Mrs. Everdeen followed, but Katniss remained strong. She did not cry. The countryside slowly faded to city. Tall buildings lines the horizon. Taxis were everywhere, and so were buses. The occasional honking was heard.

The cab pulled into the parking lot of the airport, and the driver asked gruffly for 50 dollars. "What? We can't afford that!" Katniss replied, surprised. The driver shrugged and said,"I'll let you off the hook then, only this time." He must have realized how poor they were. Katniss ended up paying only 20 bucks. Mrs. Everdeen thanked him a million times before stepping off. Katniss rolled her eyes.

The plane tickets were paid by Clove, Katniss's cousin. They were also staying at Clove's place. Clove's mom was Mrs. Everdeen's close sister, so they agreed to take us in. Clove's dad was extremely rich, and was close friends with Katniss's dad. It was pretty complicated, but Katniss was happy that they had a place to stay.

"Welcome!" Clove's mom trilled, when Katniss finally arrived at their house hours later. "Uh, hi, Mrs. um…" Katniss stuttered. "Oh, just call me by my first name, Lynn." Lynn said, grabbing Katniss's hand and shaking it.

A petite brown haired girl with emerald green eyes appeared behind Lynn, smiling from ear to ear when she saw Katniss. "Katniss!" Clove squealed enthusiastically, and launched herself at Katniss. Katniss stumbled backwards, but grinned at Clove. She was always cheerful and in a good mood.

Prim stood by herself, unsure of what to do, until a younger girl about her age ran down the stairs of the giant mansion. "Lily!" Prim shrieked and ran towards her, both crashing onto the plush carpet.

The two mothers hugged each other, and Lynn said,"Why don't you guys unpack your stuff? Clove and Lily will show you the way." Clove took Katniss's hand and rushed up the stairs, and Katniss stumbled after her. "Clo, calm down!" She screeched when she tripped and fell on her face. "Whoops, my bad." Clove held out a hand to Katniss which she gratefully took.

The two girls walked into a big, luxurious room, with walls painted a pale purple. A queen size bed was in the corner, and a small nightstand with a purple lamp stood by it. A closet and a dresser was on one side, and a bookshelf leaned against the wall by a gigantic desk. Not a speck of dust was in sight.

"Wow." Katniss murmured, trailing her finger along the side of bed. She rubbed the soft fabric between her fingers. "Wow. I've never, uh, touched silk before." Clove smiled. She was happy to see her cousin in such a good mood. "Well, now you have." Clove grinned. Katniss glanced up at Clove. "Thank you so much." She couldn't even describe her gratitude and how much she owed Clove and her family. Clove nodded. "No problem."

During the next few days, Katniss adjusted quite well to this family. Katniss met Clove's dad, a kind man who also was saddened Mr. Everdeen's death. She helped Clove with the chores, and played with Prim and Lily. The topic of school began to turn up. Katniss was in the same grade as Clove, 10th grade. It was the middle of the school year. Katniss was to start in 2 days. Lynn already took care of the hard application stuff and school utensils.

"I'm so excited!" Clove squealed. "You'll meet my new boyfriend, Peeta Mellark! And my other friends! Marvel Quaid, Delly Cartwright, Gale Hawthorne, Thresh Okeniyi, Foxface Emerson and Annie Cresta." She ticked them off her fingers. "Oh, and ignore Cato Ludwig, Glimmer Rambin, Finnick Odair, Gloss and Cashmere Shine. They're the 'popular' people. They refer to themselves as the Careers. You better not mess with them, and I learned my lesson the hard way. Oh, and don't go falling for Cato. People just love him because of his looks- and possibly his grades. Low A's in every class. He'll dump you after a month."

"How'd you know all this?" Katniss asks. "I've been with them all through middle and part of high school. I would be dumb if I didn't know. Obviously." Clove replied, with a tone of 'duh' in her voice. Katniss shrugged. She really wasn't listening to Clove. One name stuck out above all the others like an elephant in a crowd of chickens.

He was the one who Katniss relied on, but left her when he realized that she was poor. He was the one Katniss was forever best friends with. Katniss had planned on remaining with him for the rest of her life, together and always. But no, he broke her heart. And this someone is Cato Ludwig.

**A/n**

**So, first Cato/Katniss! What do you all think? PLEASE review. PLEASE? I'll love you forever! Tell me your advice and suggestions! I'm planning on continuing this Fanfic. 1 review, at least. Or maybe 2. 3 would be awesome!**


	2. Chapter 2

Yay! I'm so happy to get all the reviews/followers/favorites! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you all. I wrote it today because I was so enthusiastic about writing more after seeing how much positive feedback I got! So, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games**

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"Katniss! Katniss, wake up!" I groaned and rolled over. "What?" I whined, still very groggy. My eyes open just a crack and I see Clove leaning over me, giggling like crazy. "Your first day of school, remember?" She asks.

I automatically sit straight up in my bed, shocking Clove. "Dang, girl. Remember, you were the one who said for me to calm down!" She says. I roll my eyes and look at the alarm clock positioned beside my bed. "It's already seven-thirty!" I scream, tossing away the covers and running across the large room to the dresser. "I can't be late for my first day of school!" I frantically search through the gigantic bag of clothes Lynn bought me the other day. A pair of jeans and a floral blouse would be nice.

I shoo Clove out of my room and change quickly. I apply a bit of mascara and lipgloss, my hair in its usual side braid. I never liked makeup, artificial stuff that made you look fake. I head downstairs, and find that everything is already prepared for me. "Thanks!" I yell in the general direction of the living room and join Clove at the door. Seven-forty five. She raises an eyebrow questioningly. "No breakfast?" "Nope."

We hop into Clove's shiny, red convertible. She just got it a few weeks ago, when she turned seventeen. I learned how to drive with our old truck back home, but we just couldn't bring it along. Clove said that she'll offer me lessons. I accepted graciously.

Cedarwood High School is only five minutes away from Clove's mansion. She should've told me earlier, then I wouldn't have been in such a hurry. Clove wordlessly led me to the front desk. The front desk manager, I guess, was named Effie Trinket. She looked horrifying. Butterflies adorned her false eyelashes, layers and layers of makeup caked her face. She was dressed in the ridiculous outfit of a pink tutu. "Good morning, Ms. Effie Trinket." I said politely. Effie glances up from the computer screen, her pink contacts blocked out the blue of her real eyes. She blinked furiously- I could tell the contacts were irritating. I bet it was meant to look beautiful, but, to my eyes, she looked like someone ready to go trick-or-treating.

"Yes?" She squeaked in an extremely high, soprano voice. I cringed. "I'm a new student here, my name is Katniss Everdeen. E-V-E-R-D-E-E-N. " She typed really, really fast, her perfectly manicured pink nails making clicking sounds on the keyboard. After searching in the folders for a seriously long time, she handed me my textbooks, locker number and schedule. Clove joins me as I read off my schedule. "First class, English, Mr. Crane, Room 324. French 3, with Mr. Becotte, Room 234. Chemistry, Mr. Abernathy, Room 376. World History, Mr. Heavensbee, Room 235. Trig, Ms. Davidson, Room 400 and Art 3 with Mr. Cinna, Room 404. And there's lunch, of course."

Clove gapes at my schedule."What…?" She says, still staring. "What?" I ask, alarmed. "We don't have any classes together." "Dang it." I sigh. "See you at lunch, then. I can introduce my friends to you at lunch." Clove says, a hint of sadness in her voice. She waves and mouths 'Good Luck'.

I decide to find my locker later, since the warning bell already was ringing, signaling it was five minutes till class. "First class, English." I muttered."Room 324. Where is that?" I roamed through the hallways, occasionally bumping into people. As the number of people in the hallways started to cease, I started worrying. Where was room 324? This school was messed up!

Soon, the hallway was cleared, and it was extremely quiet except for he humming of the air conditioners. As I was frantically rounding a corner, silently cursing myself for not asking Clove for directions when I had the chance to, I crashed into a running figure. "Watch it, will you?" I hissed, when my phone skidded across the linoleum. I didn't look up to see the face of the person, so when he asked,"Katniss?" I was extremely confused. "How'd you know my name?" I looked up curiously.

"Do you not recognize me?" The guy lifted up the hood of his sweatshirt, and I gasped with recognition. His icy blue eyes bore into mine, his short blond hair pointing in all directions. I composed myself quickly, and sneered with sarcasm dripping from my voice,"Of course I don't, Cato."

Cato didn't flinch, like I hoped he would, but confusion crossed his features. Haha, Cato and confusion just didn't go together. "Shouldn't I get a warmer welcome?" He asked, regaining his composure. He opened his arms, expecting me to jump on him like I did before. But all I did was give him a killer glare. "Not after what you did." I snapped. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to get to class." Cato's large form blocked the entryway to the next hallway, and from experience, I knew he was too strong to fight against. His muscles looked menacing.

I didn't want to seem weak, so I turned around with my nose in the air, and sprinted down back the way I came. I didn't hear Cato's footsteps come after me.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, I found the English classroom. Mr. Crane looked at me above his glasses, and said,"Ah, the new student, right?" "Yes, sir. Katniss Everdeen. Sorry I was late, I got a bit lost in the hallway." "A bit lost, huh?" He asks slyly, considering I was ten minutes late. "Yes, sir." He leads me to two empty desks and returns to lecture the class. I pay close attention and take notes, but it's hard to ignore the stares people are giving me in the room.

A blonde girl sitting near me suddenly smacks my arm. "Ow, what the heck?" I say as I rub the red spot. A bronze haired boy with sea-green eyes sitting behind me whispers,"Sorry about Glimmer. She's always like that when Cato comes. By the way, name's Finnick." I don't take his hand, so instead he winks flirtatiously at me and I turn away, unamused. After Mr. Crane scolds Cato for being late and a bad example for the new student, Cato plops down between Glimmer and me. Cato tosses his bag carelessly to the ground and I look at him, disgusted.

"What's your problem?" He asks. I ignore him and he looks a bit agitated. Though when Glimmer, the blonde girl, touches his arm, he immediately forgets about me and lets Glimmer lean against him. He smirks at me while playing with Glimmer's long hair. I guess they're a couple, then. I concentrate on the lesson, but I've already learned everything, so I tune out. Clove's voice floats back into my head:

"Oh, and ignore Cato Ludwig, Glimmer Rambin, Finnick Odair, Gloss and Cashmere Shine. They're the 'popular' people. They refer to themselves as the Careers. You better not mess with them, because I learned my lesson the hard way."

Glimmer, Finnick and Cato, yes, they're all in sitting by me right now, the Careers. I start to feel uncomfortable, since the first impressions of all of them were not great. I really shouldn't have talked to them, Clove's warning isn't something I that I should ignore. I sigh and doodle randomly on my notebook. Near the end of the class, the cover of my notebook was nearly covered in swirls and 3D pictures of cubes. When Mr. Crane dismisses us, he hands me a book to begin reading. It's called Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Yup, I've already read this. This English class is way behind the old school I used to go to.

I don't seem to have any other classes with Cato besides English in the morning. In Chemistry, though, my lab partner was Glimmer. She was constantly batting her fake eyelashes at a boy sitting at a nearby table. He just scowled at her, digusted. I learned that his name was Peeta, and I recalled that he was Clove's boyfriend. He was sweet and kind, just the kind of person Clove needed to be with. Glimmer didn't even pay attention to the project. After she found out Peeta was no fun to flirt with, she starting flirting with another guy named Marvel. I ended up doing the project on my own.

The classes flew by quickly, I took notes and got to meet someone that I befriended. She was called Madge Undersee, a quiet girl who had no other friends. She was naturally beautiful, with wavy blonde locks and baby blue eyes. We walked together in the cafeteria for lunch. It was already crowded, and I spotted Clove at a table at the other side of the big room. She waved for me to come over, and I held up one finger to signal for her to wait. I brought my own lunch.

As I searched through the hallways for my locker, I crashed again into a running figure. I had a short temper, so again, I snapped,"Watch where you're going! Do you not look?" I looked up to see their reaction but my frown deepened when I saw who it was.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to all my reviewers/followers/favorites! I love you all, just like I promised! I probably won't be updating this often from now on, b/c I'm starting to get a lot of HW. Yeah, maybe once every three days? Idk. But I will update! **On the last chapter, though, I forgot to put "Gym" in the schedule. So, gym will be w/ Atala in the gym(obviously). Once again, PLEASE PLEASE Review! It will make me so happy! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games**

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"Didn't we already have this conversation before?" I sneered at Cato. He shrugs and says carelessly,"I didn't plan on having one."

"Then move." I hissed, since he was blocking my way.

"Wait. I have something to ask you first." He says.

"What?" I ask, irritated.

"Why are you so mad at me? Aren't we friends, at least?" My eyes widen and then narrow into slits. "Are you serious?"

"What? Of course I am!" He replies, surprised that I even asked.

"It's past tense, Cato. We were friends, do you not understand? You have no idea what you did to me? Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how much my heart broke after you left? Do you not have your own judgement? We were friends, Cato! If I did something to upset you, you could've just told me! I don't know what happened! After you found out I was poor, why'd you just leave? It was because I was poor, wasn't it? You just wanted to go live with some snobby upperclass girl!" I yell, and only a few stray tears made their way down my cheeks. Good thing the hallways were deserted, otherwise people would be staring at us like we were crazy.

Cato reached out a hand to wipe my tears away, but I swatted his hand away and wiped them away furiously on my own. This was the soft side of Cato that not a lot of people have seen. I could tell he wasn't used to emotional girls; he looked extremely uncomfortable and was fiddling with his fingers, looking down. I wasn't emotional, it was just that I was so angry at him for leaving me when I was suffering the most. And what hurts was that he left with a girl. A rich girl that he immediately started to date after leaving me. I couldn't say "dumped me", because we were never dating.

"Never talk to me again. I don't ever want to see your face again." I whispered so only he could hear. But my voice broke. It made me seem weak, but I tried do hard all these years to never show my weak side. Now Cato's seen it, he's surely going to announce to the whole school how I "cried like a baby" in the halls. I ran away from the stunned Cato, and into another empty hall where I could let my emotions out.

I hid in the bathroom for the entire lunch period, not bothering to eat my grilled cheese sandwich. The first day of school is turning out awful. Things are way too rushed. All because of Cato. I hate him now, I hate him more than anything. Sure, he was excellent in the looks department, but it was nothing compared to his personality and attitude. I rinsed my face until it didn't look so red and swollen anymore. I checked the time. Gym starts in ten minutes.

I ducked my head all the way to the locker room past all the swarming people, until Glimmer passes by and sneers," Why looking so down? Cato rejected you in the hallway, huh?" People nearby snickered. I looked down, embarrassed, but then threw my braid over my shoulder and yelled,"Do you think I would be the kind of person who would like to date somebody like Cato? Do I? For your information-" I glared at Glimmer-"I wasn't trying to ask your boyfriend out. He was trying to apologize to me for hurting my feelings! He isn't the kind of person you think he is! Sure, he has good grades and such, but when you get to attached to him, you'll regret it!" Heads turned. People gasped. They whispered among themselves, but I could here most of them say,"This is her first day here, how could she have known Cato so well to say this?" I ignored them, and turned away, heading towards the locker room.

As I enter the room quietly, a girl named Cashmere, also part of the Careers, flips her hair and says loudly,"Nice show you put on out there, Everdeen. I never knew that you knew Cato before this. I bet you were the 'snob' he was talking about!" She turns away, giggling. I fight back the urge to say,"Guess who's the snob? Not me, but you!" I glared at her back until I hear a familiar voice. Madge.

"Hey, Katniss."

"Hey." I mumble.

"Cheer up. Nobody will mind, anyways. I didn't mind. I'm certain some other people have forgotten it happened already. But now everybody knows that you knew Cato before this…" She trails off, unsure of herself.

"I bet by now this incident has already travelled to Cato's ears." I grumble.

"By the way, I met your cousin and her friends today." Madge says, eager to change the subject.

I slap my thigh. "Oh, right, I was supposed to meet with Clove today during lunch!" I exclaim.

By now, almost everyone has cleared from the locker room, and I had finished changing a long time ago. I stood up and walked towards the gym. Madge followed.

The coach, which insisted on us calling her Atala instead of her last name, made me introduce myself to the class. But I bet more than half of the population of the school know me already from the incident.

"So, what are you good at?" Atala asks randomly while we stretched. "Well, I'm decent with a bow and arrow, I used to hunt for my family. My dad always said I hit every animal in the eye. I'm good at sprinting, and also long distance running, like cross country. I can swim a bit." I say. Atala twirls the pencil in her fingers. "Okay." I never got the chance to ask her "okay" what, because we're already assigned onto teams for a relay race. Glimmer wasn't on my team, thankfully.

The three other people were called Thresh, Gale and Annie. They were all knew Clove, I realized. I introduced myself as "Clove's cousin." Thresh was a tall guy with dake brown skin and short brown hair, he looked as muscular as Cato. Gale had olive colored skin like me, and also had brown hair. Annie had long red hair that was pulled up into a high ponytail. She had beautiful green eyes. I had my hair in my usual side braid, and people described my gray eyes as "having fire in them". That's when Cato came up with the nickname, Fire girl, or Girl on fire.

When Atala blew her whistle, Gale, while clenching the tube to pass onto Thresh, sprinted off. He was amazingly fast, and Thresh ended up getting a head start because of Gale. Thresh was in the lead. Annie was slower, though, so I got to run second. One guy from the other team was in front. I squeezed the tube so hard it was on the verge of breaking, and pumped my legs as hard as possible. I passed the guy, and our team got first. Annie sulked quietly on the side because she held us down. I saw that Madge was on the team that came last. She nervously twirled a strand of strawberry blonde hair with her fingers. I caught her eye and gave her a thumbs-up reassuringly.

While the two boys congratulates each other and Atala went to get a clipboard to take notes, I scanned the room, hoping to see someone I knew from other classes that looked pretty welcoming. There was a lot of commotion coming from the other side of the huge gym. I recognized Cato by his tall form and strikingly blue eyes. He was angry at his team for getting second place. I saw him pinning a small girl against the wall. I grimaced, then I turned angry, too. How could he do that? Everybody else were shrinking away from him, even his lover, Glimmer. She looked terrified.

Well, I wasn't going to hold back. If I didn't stop him, he might break the girl's neck. I stomped over to him loudly, and cleared my throat. Everyone watched me, wide-eyed. Madge shook her furiously, but I mouthed to her, 'I'll be fine'.

Cato dropped the girl upon hearing me, and several people rushed over to her yelling, "Delly!" I stared into Cato's blue eyes, never breaking eye contact. When we were younger, I was the only one who could ever calm him down when he was mad. I hope it still worked.


	4. Chapter 4

I remember as clear as day when it happened. We were both eight. I was the only one who could calm his temper. Not even his mom could, she just stood there, dumbfounded.

_"Cato!" I scream, running toward his fallen figure lying on the ground. "Are you dead?" I frantically whisper, pressing my ear to his chest, where the heartbeat should be. All I saw were three older guys who pushed him hard to the ground. I shook Cato once, and his eyes popped open. _

_"Cato!" I shout, happy that he was still alive. But he shoved me to the ground, standing up in a flash. I fell on my butt, complaining loudly. "Shut up!" He hissed, and ran towards the three boys who pushed him. They were hidden poorly behind a tree, and Cato saw them immediately. _

_When Cato picked the first boy up like he was ragged doll, the boy screamed. The other two were too shocked to move. Cato laughed wickedly and said,"You scream like a girl." I recovered quickly and stood up, marching over to him. "Put the guy down." I ordered. "You can't tell me what to do," he retorted. I knew he would never hurt me, so I glared at him. But boy, I was so wrong. He threw the boy down like I said, but grabbed me by my "scrawny" neck. _

_By then our moms finally caught up with us, and the three boys had already ran off. My mother screamed, and pulled his mom along. Cato only focused on me. I remember clearly what he said,"Don't ever talk to me like this again." I was so stubborn, and said,"Cato, you need to learn how to control your temper," even though I was several feet off the ground. He was way taller than me(And he still is). Slowly, he started to let me go. My neck was red afterwards for a long time, and it formed a bruise, but it was worth it. "Promise not to hurt anybody again?" _

_"Promise."_

But he still got mad. I was, for awhile, the only person who could comfort him. Then Sparklepants, Glimmer, came along right after he left me at the age of fourteen. Oh, right! Glimmer! That's why her name seemed so familiar!

I focused back on Cato. His eyes still bore into mine. We stare at each other a long while, until I say, "Cato."

"What?" He snarls. A few girls whimper, not used to seeing him like this.

"Remember, when we were eight you promised me not to hurt anyone again? I don't know how many times you've broken your promise but-" .

"I never promised." He says annoyed, but less angrier than before.

"I said, 'Promise not to hurt anybody again?' And you said, with a tone of determination, 'Promise'."

He remembered, I could tell. I look I've seen many times before crossed his features. Maybe a little sorry looking? "I never break my promises." He whispers, so quietly, I think he's talking to himself. "Cato?" I ask softly. "Go apologize to, uh, Delly."

He turns around slowly, looking downwards. Delly's brown eyes look at him with much curiosity. I can practically feel Glimmer's penetrating gaze on my back. Cato finally mutters out a "Delly, I'm really sorry for what I did. I shouldn't have tried to kill you." I crack a smile, and everyone else in the room smiles as well, after hearing Cato's apology. I bet they've never even heard him say the two words, 'I'm sorry'.

Atala comes in at just the right time. "Yo! Why are we all crowding over here!" She says, waving a neon pink clipboard. Probably from Effie Trinket. "Spread out!" We all scatter around the gym, Glimmer staying near Cato the whole while, stroking his arm but glaring at me.

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A beeping sound came from my phone. I flipped it out and found 1 unread text from Clove.

**Clove: Hey Katniss, sry about the late notice, but I have a Math club thing after school 3:05-4:10. You'll gonna have to wait for me…btw what's all those rumors going on about u for? & y didn't u join me for lunch? :( **

I texted her back saying I'll explain later and I'd much rather walk home than stay at the school where everyone could recognize me. She agreed, and told me to be careful. After Art, I packed my stuff and slowly shuffled to the door. My new backpack was already sporting ripped holes.

The door opened and I inhaled my first breath of fresh air in a long time. I stuffed my hands in my jacket pocket to stay warm, and pulled out my iPod. Today was definitely not a day for pop songs. I put on some soothing piano music instead, River Flows In You by Yiruma(A/n: I don't own this, but seriously, look this piece up on YouTube. It's so beautiful! I just finished learning how to play it). I really smiled the first time in several long years. I was enjoying the breeze blowing back my hair and the sunshine when I again, the third time in 24 hours, crashed into the same person. I took out my earbuds.

"Are you doing this on purpose?" I demanded. Cato just said simply, "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" I yell.

"Geez, Kat. Don't be so uptight!" He laughs. I don't have a good comeback so I just purse my lips and glare at him.

"What do you want?"

"Do you want a ride home?" He offers.

I just stare at him, did Cato Ludwig just ask me if I wanted a ride? This is all a joke. I bet it was some dare. I turn away from him abruptly and walk towards Clove's house, which was now very close. I start speed walking, but Cato is faster. He grabs the hem of my blouse and drags me into his convertible.

I flail and thrash and scream profanities at him, but nothing seems to work. "I hate you, Cato!" I yell when he starts that car and it's too late to escape. "Are you kidnapping me?" I say, a bit quieter. He starts his very expensive looking convertible, more expensive than Clove's, and speeds on the road way above the limits. "No, of course not. It's broad daylight, and why would I be kidnapping you?" He says, eyes still on the road.

"You don't know where I live," I realize. He gaze lingers on my face for a long moment before answering, rather uncomfortably, "I looked it up in the phone book." "Stalker." I mutter. Silence settles down, I find it kind of comfortable. I watch as the bare trees zoom by, and the puffy white clouds in the sky.

"Why'd you try to calm me down?" He asks suddenly.

"In the gym?"

"Obviously." He answers, rolling his eyes.

"I don't really know." I admitted, glancing at him. "Probably because I didn't want to see you snapping that poor girl's neck."

Cato laughed, amused. "You really thought I was going to snap her neck?"

"Yes, actually. Based on past experience." His hands automatically tightens around the steering wheel. He mutters something incoherent.

"Excuse me, what?" I ask.

"You still remember." He says, louder. "Of course." He added, like an afterthought. Cato made a right turn that entered into Clove's neighborhood. Her house is only mere meters away when Cato stops his car. "Will you please forgive me?" He asks. Where was the cocky, arrogant Cato I used to know? Why is he all of a sudden acting so…weird?

"No." I answered coldly, disregarding his bewildered looks. "Not after what you did." I added. I hopped out of his convertible, not even saying a thank you, and leave another stunned Cato in a range of one day.

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**A/n**

**I think this chapter is kind of crappy, but whatever.**

**PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! It'll make me so happy! :)))))))) **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hiii! So, my hamster died today bcs of diabetes. It was really depressing. So, I wrote a depressing chapter, kind of. And people who want more Cato/Katniss…it's coming soon! And once again, please review! It only costs a second of your life! And sorry this chapter is kinda short.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games**

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**After 6 days of disregarding Cato at school: **

I sat at the lunch table, munching on some fries. Clove and the others were talking about some sort of dance that was coming up. Madge and I officially "joined" the group of friends. She wasn't so quiet anymore, and I felt happy for her. She was already crushing on Gale, the guy on my relay team in Gym.

When I looked back at the table where The Careers always sat, Cato and Glimmer weren't there. _Probably making out somewhere_, I think.

I chewed on a fry when a I heard someone growl, loudly, coming from the hallway leading into the cafeteria. Cato. "Not again," I sigh exasperatedly, at the same as Madge says, "What now? Is he going to kill someone, again?" I stand up, and other people do the same. We rush toward where the sound leads, and I vaguely hear a girl apologizing.

I crash into a red-faced Cato and a desperate Glimmer. Glimmer was trailing behind Cato, pulling on the hem of his shirt. Her hair was a bird's nest. Cato, though, was obviously mad and was swatting Glimmer's hand away. Glimmer's wails were so loud that the Chinese could probably hear. She kept on saying, "Please, Cato!" or "I didn't mean to!" From this situation, I could be sure that Glimmer did something to upset Cato.

"Why'd you do this me?" Cato thundered, turning back to Glimmer. She crept back, toward the arms of another blond. He held her protectively. "I said I'm sorry!" Glimmer whined. Cato looked hurt and angry at the same time, when he said, "Why'd you cheat on me with my best friend, Gloss? You broke our friendship, Gloss, and we're over Glimmer. Forever. I have forgiven you so many times. But I don't think I trust you anymore. Either of you." Cato turned around abruptly, and stalked down the hallway quickly.

Glimmer whimpered and the guy named Gloss held her closer. I glared daggers at them and snapped, "You're happy now, huh? Because-" I didn't get to finish because Gloss spat, "Since when did you care about Cato, anyway?" I didn't want to hear the rest, so I hurried after Cato, who had gone outside to sit on the benches.

I hugged my coat tighter around my body. Cato was sulking quietly and absentmindedly fiddled with the zipper of his jacket. It was cold; I don't know how he can bear it with just a thin layer of fabric. My feet crunching against the snow brought him back to his senses. He glanced at me, the tip of his nose red. He narrowed his eyes, but let me sit by him.

I shivered involuntarily. "You can sit closer if you want," He grunted. I moved a tiny bit, and I could feel the warmth radiating from his body.

"It's fine." I tried my best to comfort him without seeming too over dramatic.

"It's not fine at all." Cato said quietly.

"Remember, though, this is what I felt like when you left me. Empty. Depressed." I retorted.

Cato sighed. "I don't want this to turn into an argument."

"Me neither."

"So shut up and enjoy the moment."

We both gazed at the fluffy snowflakes swirling from the sky. The ground was covered in white, the pine trees were coated with a magnificent line of icicles. It was beautiful. I jumped up, and grabbed some snow from the ground. Cato looked at me questioningly. I laughed, and flung the soft ball of snow at his face.

His expression was priceless. Then Cato recovered and smirked. He, too, jumped up and made a snowball. The snow momentarily blinded me, but I threw another round of snow at his face. We were both unaware of the school bell ringing in the distance.

I dodged a snowball Cato threw at me. I giggled, something I hadn't done in a long while. He faked mad and tackled me to the ground. My back crashed into the snow, but it didn't hurt at all. It felt like a soft blanket. We rolled around, each fighting to be on top. Soon, I ran out of energy and Cato collapsed on top. We were so close that the tip of our freezing red noses were about to touch.

I looked into his icy blue eyes and saw the boy I was with so many years ago. They were cheerful and happy. Flecks of brown could be seen around the pupil. I could easily get lost in them.

Then I realized where we were and used all the energy to push him all of me. He seemed to get what I was doing and we both wordlessly headed back into the building. The hallways were clear, and I headed in the direction of my next class.

Cato and I both turned around at the same time, and we smiled at each other. Both genuine smiles, hidden messages behind them. The smiles could not be bought with a trillion dollars. They were much more valuable.

I danced into world history with an aura of pure happiness. "You are late, miss." Mr. Heavensbee said in a stern voice.

I laughed delightedly, which seemed to startle him, and said, "I'm sorry. I'll come to class on time tomorrow. And from now on."

"Thank you." He replied and directed me toward the one open chair left, next to Madge. Gale, who was on her left, was flirting with her and Madge was clearly enjoying it. I sighed. If only it was that easy…


	6. Chapter 6

**I've developed a new rule! More reviews=more frequent updates and more words! So, I'll make my chapters longer(up to 3,000 words) and if I get a lot of reviews,I'll try to update everyday. But if I don't get a lot of reviews, I'll probably update once every three days. Yeah, so here's chapter…6(?) and please review! It'll make my day!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games.**

* * *

In Gym, today, we got started on the Archery unit. Atala was excited to see my "awesome" archery skills. Every year, they present a certificate to those who are best at a certain sport, for example, the certificate for Best at Archery. Right now it was Glimmer who has it. She proudly displays it on her locker, covered with flowery magnets and stickers.

I head over to the different stations, and Glimmer watches me, snickering. "I bet you can't even pull back the string," she sneers.

"I bet you can't even lift the bow up!" I retort. Everyone turns back to watch us. I'm usually not a show-off, but what Glimmer said made want to prove to her that I can do much better than what she expected. I grab the medium sized bow, and immediately I feel like I'm in the woods again, hunting for my family. Nobody's seen me use the bow except for my family. Not even Cato has.

I grab an arrow. I inhale deeply, and pull the string of the bow back. Then I exhale and release the string. The arrow zooms toward the center of the target, and with a satisfying thump, the arrow lands on the tiny red circle. Bulls-eye. Everything is extremely quiet for a moment, until Glimmer says, "Lucky beginner's shot, move back 10 feet." I do as she says.

The arrow lands in the enter again, again and again. I was already 55 feet away. Boy, this gym is big. Every one claps and hoots for me, while Glimmer stands a little ways away, fuming. Atala shouts, "Shoot these, quick!" A couple of bean bags are thrown in the air. I smile, this was way too easy. I use only one arrow to bring them all down, while the stuffing in the beanbags begin to spill out.

Atala claps loudly for me, and everyone else but Glimmer joins in. I sheepishly look down, embarrassed by all the attention. Glimmer stomps away, smoke coming out of her ears.

When everyone else scatters around to practice, someone says, "Great job, Fire girl."

"Thanks." I say stiffly.

"What?" Cato asks, eyeing my uncomfortable stance.

"Fire girl?"

"Didn't you like the nickname I gave you?"

"It brings back horrible memories."

"Sorry." He mutters.

"It's fine. Just call me Katniss. My real name, for now."

"Okay, then."

* * *

My phone rang loudly when I was putting my books back and heading home. "Hello?" I ask.

"Go to the hospital, quick! It's Prim! Hurry!" My mother's voice shouted frantically. When she mentioned Prim, I chucked my phone into my bag and rushed out the door. Where's Clove? I look around. She's nowhere in sight. Loud footsteps hurry after me.

I was never more happy to see Cato running to his car. "Cato!" I shout,"Take me to the hospital!"

"Hurry!" He shouts back. He must see how desperate I am. Cato pulls me into his convertible and slams the door. He illegally speeds down the road and soon the big buildings begin to come into view. Huge screens hung on the side of the giant skyscrapers. I've never come of this part of the city before. The windows were like sparkling diamonds. But this is not the time to admire the city. "Prim! I'm coming!" I say to no one in particular.

The hospital is a tan building, one of the biggest skyscrapers. Cato parks his car in one of the emergency spaces and we both run as fast as out legs could carry into the building. "Primrose Everdeen." I huff to the guy who manages the whole hospital. The room is on the top floor. I curse loudly. "How can we get up there in time!?" Cato grabs my hand and I don't pull it away.

When we get into the hallway, I see a white room. The nurses tell us to be quiet. My mother, skinny and frail, sits in the corner. Her eyes are bloodshot, and her hands are clutching a phone.

I head over to Prim, laying on the white bed. She looks so skinny and tired, her usual radiant blonde hair now laying splat on the pillows. Her blue eyes are closed, her long eyelashes brushing against her cheek. I move slowly away, tears dripping down my own cheeks.

"What happened?" I ask my mom quietly. My mom shuddered and her shoulders shake violently from the movement. "Prim has leukemia." She sobs, putting her head in her hands. I am unable to process this. "What?" I whisper. I lean back, preparing to hit the hard tile floor, when Cato catches me. He hugs me tightly while I cry, soaking the front of his jacket.

I should have noticed! Prim, her ominous bruises and frequent headaches. They were the symptoms! But how could I have not noticed? Prim is only twelve years old! Just then, Clove bursts through the doors.

"Katniss! Why did you not wait for me?" She pants. She sees Prim on the bed and Clove immediately kneels down by her. "W-what h-happened?" She stutters, staring at Prim. "Prim has leukemia." I sob, and bury my head in Cato's chest. I don't think he seems to care I'm doing this, we're all too shocked by the news.

"When is she going to wake up?" I ask one of the nurses. "I don't know," she timidly replies. "You don't know?" I shriek. "Aren't you supposed to know? With all your fancy degrees and such? This the simplest question and you can't answer it?" My tears are streaming down my face. I don't know why I'm angry, I just want to let it all out on someone. And I chose this poor nurse.

Cato holds me back and the nurse slips away. I probably look like a maniac right now. "Prim!" I let out a choked sound that doesn't sound like me. I'm not Katniss right now. Katniss does not cry, she's brave. But right now, I'm slipping away. I'm a big crying mess.

We stay there the whole night. Prim doesn't wake up, and Clove's mother comes as well. Cato and I did out homework together, by the light of the moon streaming through the open windows. It was extremely quiet, I could see the glittering skyscrapers from here. It looked beautiful, millions and millions of colors decorating the landscape. Cato breaks the silence.

"So…" he starts. "Prim…"

"Don't talk about it." I warn him.

"Okay. I have a question. Why are you being so mean to me all of the time?"

"I honestly don't know. I guess I still haven't gotten over you leaving me yet."

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Yeah…"

"I want to say sorry."

"I'll forgive you."

"I never wanted to leave you because you were poor. My father got a job here, and we had to leave."

"Yeah. I'm sorry for assuming. But why'd you leave with Glimmer?"

"Glimmer's father worked with mine, so they both got some sort of job offer at the same place. We went together, and one time, I heard them discussing that Glimmer and I, should, you know. But I never really loved her…"

I hung my head. "Sorry for misunderstanding all these years."

He chuckled softly. "Assuming is not always the best."

"I know."

I stare at Cato. He had grown a lot. His jaws were more defined, he was definitely more muscular. Even looking at his biceps made you cringe; they were as big as my thighs. But his hair was the same blond and his eyes were the same electric blue.

Cato saw me staring and grinned. He flexed his arms even more and said, "See something you like?" I blushed, embarrassed. "No…"

"No? Are you sure? All this muscle and-" I cut him off, laughing. Cato saw my expression and cracked up, too. "C'mon, Katniss! Nobody's ever rejected Cato Ludwig before!"

A nurse peeked her head into the room. Always ruining the best moments. "Kids. Hush. Patients are sleeping." She looked tired and worn, black bags under her eyes. "Sorry, ma'am." We both say, and give her a smile. She smiles back after a moment of hesitation, and says, "You kids better get to sleep. It's eleven already."

"I feel like a little kid again." I say. "Me too." Cato puts down the pencil he's been holding and yawns. "Yeah, we better get to sleep." We go in Prim's room, and we sit side-by-side in the hard plastic chairs.

Unknown to Cato and Katniss, Katniss's mom had heard their whole conversation. She shook her head and smiled. "Ah, kids these days."


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! so, I got four AWESOME reviews and more followers/favorites! And over 1K views! Yay! So I wrote a chappie, it's not extra long, but I hope you like it. I'm not so evil, everybody…I loove Prim! Of course I'm not going it make her die(Nobody dies in this story)! **

**Once again, PLEASE PLEASE review! I know some people might think this story is going nowhere, but I have the plot in mind! Please review! I'll be soo happy! (*^o^*)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games**

* * *

I woke up from the beeping of the hospital. I yawn groggily, and stretch how my muscles. The first thing I see is Prim, still laying on the hospital bed. I try to rush toward her but something heavy is blocking me.

I look down to see Cato's arm. I sigh and try to push his extremely heavy arm out of the way. His arm is definitely not fat, but it's all muscle. I try to shove again, but it seems as if he's purposely putting weight on it. I groan, and whine, "Cato, I know you're awake! Just move your freaking arm already! It's too heavy!" To prove my point, I try to shove it again with no success.

Cato looks up, fake hurt filling his eyes."Are you calling me fat?"

"Of course you're fat!" I stick out my tongue at him, and, for the last time, finally nudge his arm away. I wipe my sweaty brow and complain, "You did that on purpose!" Cato just ignores me and fixes his shirt.

Someone's phone rings. Cato flips out his, checks the screen, and answers. I head over go Prim but listen anyway. He's talking to a whining girl, I can tell. Most likely Glimmer. "I told you, I broke up with you!" Yup, it's Glimmer. Glimmer says something in an extremely high voice and Cato is looking very angry. He shouts, trying to be quiet, into the phone, "Glimmer, just stop calling me. We're not together anymore, anyway, I'm going to delete your number. Block it, whatever it takes to shut you up and stop bothering me! I'm doing something far more important than your beauty products!" He hangs up, and, I suppose, blocks Glimmer's number.

I glance back at Prim. She looks better, I guess. Prim looks almost peaceful in her sleep. She still hasn't woken up yet, though. I sigh and brush some of her bangs away from her face. Prim's normal glow to her cheerful face is gone. When will she wake up? I impatiently stand up and walk to the digital clock on the wall. 6:00 a.m. My mother's still dead to the world, Cato's using the restroom, and I'm just going to clean myself up. At least there's no school today.

Clove and her mother went home after awhile. Cato stayed. I wonder why he didn't call his parents. Maybe he called them while I was asleep, I decided.

Cato comes out of the hallway, closing the door softly behind him. I jump directly to the point. "Did you call your parents?" He was caught off guard by my question, tenses, and stutters for a moment.

"Oh, my parents? Um, they don't really care where I go. They trust me."

I sense hidden meaning behind his words, but I don't pry. I shrug. "Okay." Cato visibly relaxes.

* * *

"So, what now?" I ask Cato, who chose to stay with me rather than go home. And I think I know why, but I will find out the exact reason later. He runs a hand through his hair, and rubs the back of his neck. A nervous habit for a lot of boys. "Uh, maybe we can go explore the city? Since we're done with our homework." I agree.

"I've never been to downtown before," I admitted. Cato smirked, "Well, that's why we're going!" I say goodbye to my mother, who warns Cato to "take good care of me". She still knows him as my childhood best friend, naughty and playful. Cato bows sarcastically and says in a funny British accent, "'Course, my lady." I pull him away, embarrassed. I kiss Prim on the forehead and whisper, "See you soon, little duck."

Cato and I climb into his convertible. He's wearing his Aviator Ray ban sunglasses, while I'm wearing my two dollar sunglasses from an old garage sale. Cato's wearing a Abercrombie plaid shirt, all in style, while I'm wearing a plain pink sweater. We're both wearing coats, though. I look like a piece of junk next to him, no kidding. I didn't think I was that poor. Clove's mom bought me clothes but nothing from all the popular stores. My jeans and Nike shoes aren't too bad, though.

"The snow's not too bad." Cato says as he drives across a bridge high in the air. I look down to see tons of cars. "Wow." I gasp, as Cato drives a tad faster downhill. The sparkling skyscrapers look even more closer. Shops lined the streets. Screens and bright advertisements covered nearly every inch. Neon signs exploded color. People walked along the streets, holding cups of coffee. I look around.

"Cities are so cool." I sound like a little kid seeing something for the first time. A giant replica of a burger stood in front of a "Burger Shop". I licked my lips hungrily. There was a bookstore, with teddy bears lining the display windows. "This place is awesome!" I squealed, jumping up and down I'm my seat. Cato glances at me and tries not to laugh, seeing my expression. He parks at the edge of a curb.

"Let's start here." He announces, pointing at a jewelry store. I nod and we enter together. The store was called Swarovski. My necklace is from here, I realized. I touched the present from my father. It was a tiny faceted crystal, but if you put it in the light, it shined with a million different colors. A tiny swan hung off one end of the thin gold chain, next to the clasp. Three tiny diamonds were on the swan, but one fell off because I jiggled with it too much. I remember I cried for hours because I lost the "final gift from my father".

The shelves were all a creamy white, and I gazed at all the professionally made jewelry. A light blue gem caught my eye. It hung off a simple silver chain with a few diamonds. It was 180 dollars, relatively low-priced compared to the other items. I stared at it for a few moments. The color was exactly like the color of Cato's eyes. Cato saw me staring and asked, "Do you want it? I can buy it right now, I brought money. I knew you would want something…" I shook my head no. He can't use 180 dollars to buy me a necklace. I bet it can use it more wisely.

We move on, though, before leaving, I glance one more time at the necklace. I'm sure it didn't go unnoticed by Cato, not that I wanted him to notice. I chat with Cato along the way, though I don't ask him about his parents. We go to several others stores, and after awhile, I feel like one of those women who drag along their husbands to go on boring shopping trips. "Sorry…" I apologize to Cato. "Maybe we should head back. We've been here for almost an hour."

Cato leads me back, and asks, "So, was it fun to go to the city for the first time?" I nod.

"Sorry for boring you, though. Maybe I should take you to the men's stores sometime."

"You mean I take you." He corrects.

"Yeah, I guess."

We round a corner and crash into a couple. Their coffee spills all over the sidewalk. "So sorry!" I apologize and bend to pick up the styrofoam cup. "Sure you are." I hear the person sneer. Glimmer. I immediately stand up and walk towards Cato.

Gloss and Glimmer stare at us with narrowed eyes. "You dumped me for her?" Glimmer shrieks, pointing an accusing finger.

"For this piece of-of, "

"Shut up! Katniss is not a 'piece' of anything!" Cato hissed, defending me.

Gloss stands up for her. "Don't talk to Glimmer like that!"

"Defending your girlfriend, huh?"

"So are you!" Gloss retorts.

"Shut up!" Glimmer shouts. "Cato! Why'd you dump me for this girl? Clarify that first!"

"First of all, I didn't dump you for Katniss. I wanted to dump you long ago, from the first second we started dating. Second of all, Katniss is not my girlfriend." I could not help but feel a little weird when he said that. Sure, I'm not his girlfriend, but the way he said it just made my heart feel…weird.

Glimmer bursts out crying. "Cato! You were lying! The whole time!" She chokes out. Cato does not show the littlest bit of sympathy in his eyes. "Yes, I was." He replies, stoic. "Cato!" Glimmer wails, bawling her eyes out. Her makeup trails down her face, giving her a hideous look. I tug on Cato's arm gently. "C'mon, let's go. Prim's probably awake."

Glimmer has composed herself enough to scream at him, "Who's Prim? Your other girlfriend? How many girlfriends do you have?"

"Prim is Katniss's little sister, for God's sake!" Cato shouts back angrily. I fight the urge to roll my eyes. People on the streets have begun to turn around and stare at us. I turn away uncomfortably and Cato and I walk back to his convertible. I can feel the penetrating glare of Glimmer and Gloss on my back.

"Well, that was quite a trip," Cato sighs as we settle down nicely into the cushions. "Yeah," I agree.

By now, I'm not thinking of the shopping trip. I'm worried about Prim. Is she okay? Has she woken up yet in the hour I've been gone? We drive across the tall bridge again, and I enjoy the wind rushing through my hair. Then suddenly, the worst happens.

A gray, flashy car is swerving towards us at full speed, and Cato panics. He tries to turn the steering wheel the other way, but not before the gray car crashes into us. It's not in slow-mo like in movies. Cato presses on the gas pedal, hard, and the convertible rushes forward. The gray car collides with the back of Cato's convertible. The gray car skids to a stop, kind of pulling us along, right at the edge of the bridge. Everything is extremely quiet, except for the purring of the engines and the popping sounds of the airbag.

I pass out, but the last thing I see is a flash of long blonde hair sweeping in front of me, and the grinning face of Glimmer Rambin.


	8. Chapter 8

**Yay! Thanks for the awesome reviews and the follows! I love you all! So, I figured out how to upload stories from my iPad cuz my computer is real slow and hard to use(to me). Please review! It only takes one second! Please? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games**

* * *

Blinding light filled the hospital room. Katniss wakes up, but restraints are holding her down. "What the heck?" She mumbles, and rubs her eyes. "Where am I ?" Katniss asks again. She calls a nurse in.

"I see you are awake."

"Where am I?" Katniss asks directly, ignoring the nurse's obvious comment.

"Ah, you see, you got into a car crash-"

"Yes, I know that part. But what happened after I passed out?"

"Oh, um, you were in shock. This boy, Cato, tried to save and was so frantic he was so scary he was so…"

"Get to the point!" Katniss shouted. The nurse flinched.

"Sorry. So, this Cato guy went crazy and he was taken to the hospital with you. The girl driving the car who crashed into you, is safe. Her name's Glimmer, I think. The Cato guy didn't seem to like her." The nurse shrugged carelessly. Katniss groaned inwardly at the explanation the nurse gave.

"Okay, so, where is Cato?"

"His home."

Katniss was slightly disappointed with this answer, but then again, Cato didn't need to wait. "How long was I out?"

"Uh, one day."

"Really?! How's Prim?" Katniss questioned eagerly.

"Primrose Everdeen? She's fine now, actually. She woke up, but she has to stay in the hospital. She freaked out when she heard about you."

"Yeah. Can I go see her?"

"Not yet. Wait until your body completely heals. The airbag saved you from a lot of damage, though. You can go to school tomorrow if you want to; you'll be ready by then."

Katniss sighed and leaned back more in her bed, if possible. Katniss was so bored, she started counting ceiling tiles. After that, she slept some more. The silent ticking of the clock made her feel drowsy. Every few minutes, the nurses came in to check on Katniss. They gave her medications, food, and one nurse was nice enough to bring in an issue of a magazine from the waiting room for her.

Finally, when the clock chimed three in the afternoon, Katniss had a visitor. "Cato." Katniss said softly. He headed over to her bed and sat next to Katniss in a hard plastic chair. "Hey." He said quietly. Cato didn't have many injuries, just a couple of bruises here and there.

"So, Glimmer. Did she do it?" Katniss asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yeah. She said she wasn't paying attention."

"Yeah right." Katniss mumbled. "The nurse said you were scary. How?" Katniss asked curiously.

"Well, after you passed out, I became really mad at Glimmer. She was looking all proud of herself and wasn't looking sad at all. So, I knew immediately it was her who did it. The convertible wasn't damaged, by the way. Her gray car was. I jumped at Glimmer and she was so surprised. We wrestled in the middle of the road for some time until, finally, the police noticed and broke us apart. They were trying to get you on a stretcher. I was fuming and wanted badly to hit something…so I kind of went out of my mind and hit a police officer and he went out cold. You know I have a temper. Now everyone will think I'm a monster." Cato looked at Katniss to see her reponse.

"I don't know what to say." She replied, her eyes still wide at the news. "But you're not a monster. It's not your fault. It was all Glimmer's fault. I'm going to get her back."

"No need. She's already been suspended from school." Cato said happily. "We'll never see her again. Speaking of, are you going to school tomorrow?"

"Yeah." I sigh.

"At least we did our homework Friday." Cato said.

Katniss didn't reply. Cato didn't expect an answer, either. They both rested in comfortable silence until Cato stood up. "I gotta go." He said, checking the time. Katniss smiled weakly, and replied, "Bye, Cato, see you at school." Cato smiled back and, unexpectantly, kissed Katniss on the forehead. "See you."

After Cato left, Katniss still felt tingly where he left his kiss. She rubbed the spot carefully, still recovering from her shock. That night, Katniss dreamed of a boy with blond hair and icy blue eyes.

* * *

The morning of the school hour passed rather uncomfortably, since Cato and Katniss were in the same class. Mr. Crane lectured about some sort of essay that's due in a few weeks. Katniss carefully marks a page in her notebook and take some notes. The voice of Mr. Crane fills the room, not another sound. Why? Because they've all fallen asleep except for Katniss, Cato and some other students.

Mr. Crane is furious. He raps his knuckles on his desk, and Katniss looks up at him, curious to why he did that. Cato leans back in his seat, straightening up. Nobody else budges, though. Suddenly, Mr. Crane grins evilly, and drags his long, dirty nails down the chalkboard. _Screech. Screeeeeech._ A few students blink their eyes and yawn. All of them wake up.

Katniss glances at them, surprised. She didn't realize they were all sleeping in class, knowing how cruel the punishments Mr. Crane can give. Indeed, he sends them all to the principal's office. All twenty of the students who were sleeping. They grumbled among themselves and headed as a large, swarming, group toward the direction of the office.

Katniss looks around the room, spotting Cato, Peeta, Marvel, Delly and Annie remaining. Mr. Crane gives them the rest of the period to chat.

"Wow. Didn't see that coming." Marvel comments when they're all gathered around.

"Even the Careers! They're always getting left off the hook!" Annie squeals.

Cato shifts away and crosses his arms, facing the other way. Katniss, of course, notices this and heads over to him.

Peeta, Marvel, Delly and Annie watch with curious eyes. "What's she doing with that Career?" Annie whispers to Delly.

"I don't know. But hey, everyone knows you've got a crush on Finnick, since what, forever?" Annie blushes, the red rising to her cheeks quickly.

Marvel shrugs and turns back to the girls with Peeta close behind. "So, wanna talk about something?"

"The dance!" Delly squeals quickly.

Meanwhile, Cato and Katniss were also talking about the dance coming up.

"Who are you going to ask?" Katniss asks."It's in two weeks."

"Cashmere, maybe." Cato knew he was just kidding with Katniss, no way he would ask Cashmere. She just wasn't his type. But Katniss believed Cato, and held back a frown.

"That's great!" She replied with fake enthusiasm. Cato thought she was being sarcastic.

"So, who are you going with?" Cato asks. Katniss had hoped Cato was going to ask her, but no.

"Um, I don't know yet. " Cato was happy with her answer. He had been planning a little surprise.

The class ended after ten minutes, Katniss and Cato chatted about random stuff. Though, deep down, Katniss felt disappointed about Cato not asking her but asking that girl instead. She didn't see what was so good about Cashmere. Maybe because she was flooded with luxuries. Or maybe she was beautiful caked with all that makeup. To Katniss, she was like a plastic Barbie doll, who doesn't deserve any love.

Cato felt ecstatic after talking to Katniss, he had a wonderful idea. Cato remembered seeing Katniss staring at the light azure crystal necklace. He knew excatly what to do.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi all! So, I updated again! Thanks for all the reviews and followers! This chapter and the next are going to be kind of short, so I apologize. And, something big (but bad) is going to happen in the next chapter. I'm excited to post it! But first, I need to have a chapter leading up to it. So, please review! I beg you!**

**Sorry this is really rushed!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games**

* * *

"Hey." Cato said to Katniss awkwardly when she was walking with Clove into the school.

Clove said a quick goodbye and left Katniss and Cato alone.

"Can you meet me at the park after school?" Cato continued.

"Why?" Katniss mumbled.

"Just go meet me there."

"Should I trust you or not." Katniss mumbled again, mostly for herself it hear, but Cato heard anyway.

"Katniss, just go. After school. You know where, the park is actually kinda small."

Katniss nodded and parted with Cato. She clutched the straps of her backpack, wondering what Cato was up to and why he was so demanding. Cato, on the other hand, was staring at her retreating figure, wondering why Katniss was so upset.

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After school, Katniss debated with herself whether to go to the park or not. Finally her curiosity came over her. She walked to the city park, which pretty close, a five minute walk away. She texted Clove saying she would get home a little later.

Katniss shoved her hands in her pockets, and arrived at the gates of the park. She hesitated a moment, looking into the deserted area. Nobody bothered to come on such a cold day. Katniss finally marched through the gates, and came across an old tree covered in snow and icicles. Cato was standing in front of it, his ears red and the tip of his nose frozen. He obviously held something behind his back.

Katniss greeted him dully, still feeling down about the whole dance conversation exchange. Cato shifted around uncomfortably, and after a minute or two of stuttering, finally looked Katniss in the eye and held out a blue box.

Katniss took it carefully. A white swan decorated the top, the word Swarovski printed neatly below the swan. Katniss used her frozen fingers to pop open the cover, and there lies the blue jeweled necklace she had seen in the store.

Katniss gasped, and looked up at Cato who was gazing at her to see her reaction. "Will you go to the dance with me?" He asked boldly, with determination. Katniss happily jumped into Cato's arms, and cried, "Of course I'll go with you!"

Cato spins Katniss around and sets her carefully back on the snow. Cato had planned a little speech, but he didn't go with it at all. Something completely different came out of his mouth. Cato never planned for this to come, nor did Katniss. "Will you be my girlfriend?" Katniss stared into Cato's electric blue orbs and asked, "What?"

"Sorry, I mean, uh, sorry-" Cato looked down when Katniss interrupted.

"Yes. My answer is yes."

Cato, who was surprised at his own question, was also surprised at Katniss's answer. He hugged Katniss tightly and tears flowed down Katniss's cheeks. Cato saw and wiped them away with his thumb. "You know, I was never good with emotional girls." Katniss only replied by crying happily and sniffing. Katniss was never a huge crier, but she was so happy and confused at the same time.

After the new couple composed themselves, Katniss smiled up at Cato and put on her new necklace. It shone brightly in the afternoon sunlight and let out brilliant multi colored rays. "It's beautiful." Katniss said in a hushed tone. "Just like you." Cato replied.

They didn't rush it for now, Cato just simply kissed Katniss on the forehead. But to Katniss, it wasn't just any kiss. It left her again with the strange tingly feeling, this time a new feeling deep inside her heart.

"Want me to drive you home?" Cato offered. This time, without hesitating, Katniss answered, "Okay."

Their hands interlocked with each other's and they slowly walked towards Cato's convertible which was parked next to where they were.

"Why did you tell me you were asking Cashmere?" Katniss questions as she walks.

"I thought you knew I was kidding!" Cato answers, surprised.

"Well, I thought you actually meant it."

"I was kidding."

"Okay, then."

"Besides," Cato adds, "Cashmere already has a boyfriend."

"Let me guess. Finnick?"

"Nah. Finnick has had this super big crush on Annie Cresta. You know her, right?"

"Annie? Oh my god! Annie has this super big _major_ crush on Finnick!"

"I think they'll be perfect together. I mean, they both have similar hobbies."

"Yeah." Katniss says.

Cato drops Katniss off at her house. They exchange their goodbyes and Katniss smiles at her new boyfriend. Unfortunately, Clove sees from the window.

"Are you serious?" She shouts when Katniss stalks into the house. She breaks away from her dreamy state and asks, "What?"

"What the heck were you doing with Cato?!"

"Nothing." Was Katniss's simple reply.

"What?" Katniss waves her off, being the good friend she is. Clove gets angry at this gesture and tackles Katniss, who falls to the ground with a faint 'thud'. _Saved by the backpack,_ she thinks.

Lynn rushes into the room and sees the girls rolling around on the ground. She screams, terrified, and runs away squealing and squeaking uncontrollably.

Katniss and Clove eventually stop after awhile. They both stand up, looking at each other. "Sorry." They both say at the exact same time. Katniss leans in for a hug and Clove accepts it. "Sorry. I think I lost my mind."

"Me too."

"Let's go visit Prim." Katniss suggests.

"Sure." Clove agrees, already slipping on her boots.

When Katniss and Clove arrived at the hospital, Prim was awake and eating some sort of disgusting looking hospital food. She looked up, and her blue eyes lit up once she saw Katniss. "Hey, you're back!" Prim cried. Katniss laughed delightedly at her sister's reaction. "How are you doing, little duck?"

Prim smiled, and replied, "Doing better. I'm doing something called 'watchful waiting'. No idea what that is. There's something called 'chemotherapy' that I might take." Katniss smiled back, but her heart was aching. She feels like that she should be there instead of Prim. "If I could switch places with you, Prim, I would do it in a heartbeat." Katniss said. "I would too." Prim declared, not yet sure of the hidden meaning behind the simple phrase.

Katniss and Prim's mother was sitting quietly in a corner, listening to her daughters' conversation. She thought, that from now on, she would be a better mother. She would not be that woman who was locked up away again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry I couldn't update sooner! I didn't have wifi for a few days because some sort of complicated stuff happened and blah blah blah. But, I'm here now! **

**disclaimer: I don't own the hunger games**

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"Ow!" Katniss whined as Madge accidentally poked her eye with an eyebrow pencil.

Delly, Foxface, and Annie were at Clove's house, putting makeup on Katniss, who's never used any of the stuff except for mascara and lipgloss. The team curled her hair long into tiny ringlets, and sprayed her with loads of perfume.

They went shopping together and bought the perfect dress for Katniss. It was a fiery red color, strapless and long. Red, orange and yellow jewels lined the hem of the dress. Whenever Katniss moved, it seemed like the dress was on fire. Katniss insisted on keeping the blue necklace, even though it didn't match the dress.

Madge shoved her feet into white pumps, while Katniss grimaced, trying to stand up. A red welt was already starting to form on her foot by rubbing against the side of the shoe. Katniss was the last to get ready. She could finally take a look of her in the mirror.

"Wow." Katniss breathed, looking closer in the mirror. "Is that me?"

She blinked several times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

"Of course!" Madge cheered.

"I…look amazing. Thank you all so much." Katniss hugged each of her friends once.

"Don't cry, though." Foxface warned. "It'll ruin all our hard work."

Katniss rolled her eyes, but was smiling anyway.

The group jumped into Foxface's giant Mercedes Benz BlueTec and headed toward their high school. Once they got there, the building was covered in glitter and balloons. A sign hanging on the wall read: Cedarwood Annual Ball! Stars decorated the entrance, streamers and balloons hung everywhere.

Katniss agreed to meet Cato at the front door at seven. It was six fifty-five. Madge, Annie and Clove each went their separate ways. Katniss could hear screaming and yelling from the inside. It was so chaotic that Katniss didn't even want to go in.

Cato came five minutes late. He literally ran through the snow to get to the school. Cato was handsome in a black tux and a white dress shirt underneath. A navy blue tie summed it up.

"Sorry." He huffed as he got to Katniss, shivering in the cold. She pulled her cardigan tighter around her body as she went in the crowded gym. "I-it's o-okay." She chattered. Cato seemed oblivious to Katniss's shivering as he led her into the gym.

Just like Katniss suspected, the gym was crowded with people. The room stank so bad from sweat and all the perfume the girls wore. Katniss frowned and tried to slink out, but Cato grabbed her arm. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"Outside." Katniss said. "To get some fresh air." She added, seeing Cato's expression.

Cato agreed reluctantly and then headed off toward the direction of his friends. Katniss went outside and sat on the benches. Sparkling lights from the city could be seen from here, illuminating the icy branches. She inhaled deeply and let out her breath in a whoosh, her breath turning into a white mist in the air.

A loud rustle in the bushes caught her attention. "Who's there?" It was dark, so Katniss couldn't see anything clearly. She squinted her eyes and looked toward the direction of the sound. Suddenly, Clove jumped out, surprising Katniss. Something was clearly wrong. Her eyes were bloodshot and red, tears that had recently trailed down her face were now dry.

"What happened, Clove?"

"I found Peeta with another girl, Glimmer! Can you believe it?" She choked out.

"What were they doing? Making out? In front of you?"

"Talking!" Clove wailed.

"…talking…?" Katniss said slowly. Clove nodded her head violently.

"Wow. If they were just talking, don't make a big deal out of it. They were just talking, okay, Clove?"

"But Peeta promised me! He even said Glimmer was a freaking airhead! He would never talk to her!" Clove said.

"Clove, I think you need to calm down a bit. Peeta doesn't seem like a person who would cheat on you with a girl like Glimmer." Katniss said Glimmer's name like it was poison, putting unnecessary emphasis on it. Clove nodded again, this time with understanding. Clove could be so over dramatic sometimes.

Katniss stood up and said, "We should go back in. By the way, Clove, I never thought you were a person who liked to cry." Clove laughed and said, "First time in ten years!" Katniss and Clove headed back in the gym, but Katniss couldn't find Cato. She was gone for less than five minutes and he already disappeared?

Katniss walked uncomfortably in her heels, occasionally tripping and gripping onto random people's shoulders. When she made a trip around the whole gym, Katniss couldn't find Cato anywhere. She was getting worried.

She saw Madge dancing with Gale and was blushing furiously. She saw Clove back with Peeta, hand in hand, drinking the water provided. Annie was talking shyly to Finnick, and Glimmer was flipping her hair while chatting with Gloss. Katniss just couldn't find Cato.

Katniss was getting more and more uncomfortable with the shoe, until she saw that her foot was bleeding. Katniss sighed and took off her shoe, limping toward the direction of the bathrooms.

The hallways were dark, and nothing was heard. With difficulty, Katniss rounded a corner. Commotion could be heard at the end of the hallway. Silhouettes were seen against the moonlight coming through the window.

She silently gasped when she saw Cashmere and Cato together. _What were they doing? _Katniss thought. Cashmere was wearing a silver glittering dress, ending above mid thigh. It was way to short. It also showed way to much skin, and Cashmere had on loads of silver makeup.

They were talking quietly, Katniss couldn't understand a single word. Cashmere looked up at Cato through her false eyelashes that were, like, three inches long, and Cato looked down at her. But, unfortunately, Katniss couldn't see his expression. Katniss held her breath as she observed the scene in front of her. she didn't dare to make a single sound.

Cashmere started to touch Cato's arm, and when Katniss expected Cato to push it away, Cato didn't. He, instead, pulled Cashmere into his arms.

Everything clicked into place when Katniss saw Cato lowering his head to kiss Cashmere. This time, Katniss let out an audible gasp, but the two people didn't hear. Her bleeding foot didn't matter right now. Katniss involuntarily let out a scream: "CATO! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!"

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**Please please please review! It would make me so happy! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you for the reviews! They were awesome! Sorry that its super short. I'm going to make a really long chapter soon! So…I don't have much else to say. Enjoy the chapter! And please review! I would really appreciate it! ^_^**

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Cato whirled around, stunned. "K-Katniss?" He stammered. "I-I, let me explain-" but I cut him off.

"Explain what, huh? Everything is already right here, in front of me! There's no need to explain anything! Everything you said was a lie! A LIE! I never should've trusted you!" I was breathing heavily, glaring at Cato. I took off the necklace he bought me, and flung it to the ground. It clattered noisily, but didn't break.

Cato was extremely quiet, for a change. He gingerly picked up the necklace, and walked slowly towards me to put it on. I swat his hand away and say as calmly as I can muster, "It's over, Cato. It's only been one day, and you're already cheating on me with this girl you told me you hated? You're contradicting with yourself so much it's hilarious." But I don't laugh at all.

Cashmere tries to slink away silently, but I point at her accusingly. "You. What are you doing with my boyfriend?"

"He's not your boyfriend. I bet I know more about him than you do." She replies.

"You don't know anything." I retort.

I spin on my heel and make a beeline towards the exit, but then remember I have to tell Clove first. "Katniss, wait! Hear me out!" I hear Cato shout behind me. I ignore him and head towards the gym. Cato catches up quickly with his long strides, and grabs my shoulder and forcefully spins me around. "Don't touch me." I hiss, rubbing my shoulder. "I hate you. Don't ever talk to me again! Or even acknowledge me!"

Cato doesn't say anything, probably still processing the hurtful words I said. So I take my chance to escape. He's the one who hurt me in the first place.

Clove is dancing in the gym with Peeta, looking happier than ever. "Clove." I say, tapping her shoulder. Without looking back, she asks, "What?" "I have to go." Clove can sense the urgency in my voice, quickly lets Peeta go, and kisses him on the cheek. Peeta waves goodbye at me and I quickly wave back. He's always so polite and loyal to Clove, unlike Cato, who is the exact opposite.

"What happened?" Clove questions when we get to the corner of the gym. "I found Cato and Cashmere kissing in the halls." Clove's mouth forms an 'o' of shock.

Once she recovers, she asks, "How come you're not upset?" Clove assesses me up and down.

"I am. But I'm not expressing it by crying."

"Then how?" Clove asks quietly.

I already have a plan in mind. "Make him jealous and mad that he ever let me go." I respond.

"Cool."

We stare at each other, communicating with our eyes. A grin makes its way up Clove's face. "Whoa, staring contest?" Marvel asks as he comes over to us, Foxface hanging on to him like they're attached. I shake my head and share a secretive look with Foxface. It's like magic how we can understand.

Marvel fans himself with his hand. "It's hot in here."

"Obviously," Clove says, rolling her eyes.

"We should get some fresh air outside." Foxface suggests to us.

I don't say anything, I just follow them outside. Clove brings Peeta in and Madge comes it a minute later with Gale. Thresh comes too, surprisingly, with Delly. I shoot a knowing look to Clove.

"So, " I start, when everyone's seated comfortably, "I have something to tell you guys. I found Cato making out with Cashmere in the hallway."

"So?" Delly says.

"Kat and Cato are, I mean were, together!" Thresh says to her under his breath. Delly sends me an apologizing look. "Sorry."

The rest of the group is traumatized, except Clove. Whispers travel around, but something Gale says catches my attention. "Once a cheater, always a cheater."

"What? Did he cheat on other people besides me?" I ask curiously.

"Yeah. I was best buddies with him until, like, a few years ago. He was dating Glimmer, but he kinda dated other people at the same time. He's probably the school's biggest player."

I scrunch my eyebrows together. He wasn't like that to me…

Clove sees my expression. "He _seems_ nice. But he's not a guy to date, I tell you." I feel like crying, but I won't. I actually trusted his stupid lies. "Or, be his girlfriend." Clove adds.

"I know. I was rushing into everything." I stand up, and so does everyone else.

"Guess what." Marvel doesn't wait for us to guess. "I'm going to go beat the crap out of Cato."

"You won't." Foxface warns. "I think it's the opposite."

Marvel pretends to be offended, but he says, "Alright, I'm not going to beat him up, but I'm going to _accuse_ him. Understand the difference?" Before anyone could stop him, he jogs back into the gym, looking hilarious in a tux.

We exchange looks and shrug, heading back inside. Clove catches my arm. "Are you not going back?"

"No. I'm going to make him jealous."

"Good idea." She winks, and pulls a random boy out of the arms of a poor girl.

"Not like that!" I whisper.


	12. Cato's POV

**Special chappie! Since toritwilight504 suggested that I should make a Cato POV chapter when he kissed Cashmere, I decided to do that. And it might answer some of your questions! It might not be very good considering that I'm a girl, I'll never have the experience of what goes on in a guy's mind.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the hunger games **

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Cato POV

I was already late for the dance, in a state of panic. I speed illegally down the road until I get to the school- covered in streamers and balloons- and quickly park in the first parking spot I see. The purring of the engine stops abruptly when I extinguish the convertible.

I spot Katniss shivering and freezing in front of the school. I never suspected that she would wait for me, in the cold, but I'm glad. Katniss's gray eyes find me running through the snow, splaying it around me. She raises her eyebrows quizzically for a split second. Katniss looks beautiful in a red dress, swirling around that creates the illusion of a fire. I notice her wearing the necklace I got her, and I smile.

"Sorry." I apologized, leading her in the school. "I-It's o-okay." She chatters. _No it's not,_ I wanted to say. What should I do to warm her up? Hug her? Compliment her? Rub her arms or something? I doubt that she'd like that. Katniss seems more reserved than most girls…

As we enter the gym, I sense Kat's discomfort beside me. She wrinkles her nose in disgust at the smell and tries to slink outside. I grab her arm and she whirls around. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" I question. "Outside." She replies. I frown and she adds, "To get some fresh air." _Already? _I let go of her arm and she leaves without a glance back.

I just stand there, staring at the closing door when somebody shakes me out of my trance. Cashmere. "Oh, hi." I say boringly, ready to bolt out the door from the intoxicating smell of perfume and sweat that was now meeting my nose.

Cashmere was wearing a low cut silver dress, that ended right below her bottom. A little shorter, everything would be exposed. Her matching silver heels were probably ten inches tall. She could barely walk in them, wobbly and all. Layers and layers of makeup caked her face.

"I saw that." She says, looking at me intently.

"Saw what?" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. What did I do?

"Oh, that disappointed look you had when Katniss left." She sneered her name viciously.

"She was just going to get some fresh air," I say, and add, "Don't you dare say Katniss's name like that again."

"I bet she was going to go make out with her secret boyfriend." Cashmere says slyly, ignoring my last comment. Now, that caught my attention.

"What?"

"Everybody knows Katniss has been cheating on you. You're just so oblivious." Cashmere drags me to the gym door, I'm frozen, I don't pull back.

"That doesn't sound like Katniss." I state and push Cashmere away gently. It's kind of like a spring, everytime I shove her away, she just comes back in my arms.

"You don't even know her, Cato. She's lying to you." Cashmere says, wounding her arms around my waist. She opens the gym door with her one free hand and leads to to the very end of a hallway, next to a window with moonlight streaming in.

"I don't know, Katniss wouldn't do that." I say doubtfully. Katniss would never do that, I'm sure.

"She is." Cashmere says in a freakishly mesmerizing voice.

"No." I state again, but my voice wavered.

"Believe me. I've known you since seventh grade, you just met Katniss for what, a month? Who would you trust?" Cashmere whispers. _I've known Katniss before that, a long time before that, _I want to say. Cashmere touches my arm tenderly. Cashmere's so mesmerizing, my thoughts become foggy and there's only Cashmere and me in the world. She's suddenly so alluring that I pull her into a huge hug. Cashmere takes that as a positive sign and tilts her head up to kiss me. Her lipgloss coated lips are everything but attractive, but I just want her. I lean down, and our lips are a millimeter from meeting, when a very familiar voice screams: "CATO! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?"

I pull away and turn around, meeting the eyes of a furious Katniss. "K-Katniss?" I stammered. "I-I, let me explain-" _Please don't jump into conclusions._

"Explain what, huh? Everything is already right here, in front of me! There's no need to explain anything! Everything you said was a lie! A LIE! I never should've trusted you!" She screams, her hair flying crazily around her. Her bleeding foot is trailing blood, but I don't think she seems to notice. I open my mouth to say something, but then Katniss takes off the necklace I gave her and flings it to the ground.

I helplessly stare at it, until I pick up the necklace, undamaged by the harsh attempt to break it. I head toward the fuming Katniss slowly, preparing to put on the necklace when she hits my hand. I look down, ashamed. I wish my mouth muscles would start working, but whenever I want to say something, I can't. I'm interrupted by the Katniss shouting loudly.

"It's over, Cato. It's only been one day, and you're already cheating on me with this girl you told me you hated? You're contradicting with yourself so much it's hilarious." I don't think it's hilarious, and obviously, neither does she.

Katniss directs her attention on Cashmere. "You. What are you doing with my boyfriend?"

"He's not your boyfriend. I bet I know more about him than you do." She replies.

"You don't know anything." Katniss yells.

I want to do something, anything, but it's like an invisible force is holding me. _It's not what it' seems like! _I want to yell. When Katniss starts to leave, my muscles unfreeze.

"Katniss, wait! Hear me out!" I shout. She ignores me and continues to speed walk down the hall. I grab her shoulder and spin her around. "Don't touch me." She hisses, rubbing her shoulder. "I hate you. Don't ever talk to me again! Or even acknowledge me!" I freeze in shock this time. I release my grip on her, and she takes advantage of the time to escape.

Her words bounce around in my skull. _I hate you. Don't ever talk to me again. _I'm screwed. I rub my temples and let out a frustrated growl. I whip around to face Cashmere, but she's nowhere in sight. I stalk back into the gym and find a very cheery Finn with an unfamiliar girl.

"'Sup, man?" He asks and slaps me on the back. I force a grin on my face and reply lamely, "Fine." I glance curiously at the intertwined hands of the girl and Finn, and ask, "Who's the pretty girl?"

"Annie Cresta." Finn says in a singsong voice and pulls her in a hug. Annie blushes beet red and looks down.

"So," Finn asks me. "Where's Katniss?" Annie's eyes widen and says in a quiet voice, "You're with Katniss?"

"Yeah…" I trail off, unsure of what to say. Annie lets the subject drop, but Finnick gives me the tell-me-everything-later look. They head off, chatting and laughing happily. For some reason, I envy their relationship. Always simple and sweet, as Finnick puts it.

The second they're out of sight, I'm swarmed by millions of other girls, asking me to dance with them. I push my way through them, as they whine that they haven't gotten my autograph. What am I, some sort of celebrity? But I am the quarterback of the football team, I smirk inwardly.

I have many more problems to face, though, as I come back to reality.

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**Please review! Tell me how I did with my first Cato POV!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi guys! This chapter will be filled with flashbacks(italicize). You get to glimpse into Kat & Cato's "past life". Kind of. So, R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the hunger games.**

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I enter the school on Monday, feeling extremely down, like a thundercloud is over my head everywhere I go. A cheerful Madge meets me by my locker. "Hey, guess what?" She asks. "Do I look like I want to guess?" I snapped at Madge, gesturing toward myself. Madge shrinks back slightly at my attitude. "Nooo…but I just wanted to tell you that Gale asked me out!"

"Wow, congrats!" I say sarcastically. Madge frowns and says, "Look, we all know what happened. But you don't need to act all rude and project your anger on us!" I sigh, feeling defeated. "I know, but I just don't want to talk right now." Madge nods. "Now, that's what you're supposed to be like."

"You sound like my mom."

I sling my backpack over my shoulder, and head to English. Cato's in this class, I'm not ready to talk to him yet. So, when I enter the classroom, I sit across the room from Cato, who's crossing his arms casually. My mouth curls down into a scowl when I see him like that. Did what happened on Friday not matter to him?

I feel his gaze on my back as I sit down. Mr. Crane walks in five minutes late, sweat covering his forehead. "Sorry." He pants, plopping his books on the desk. "Hello class." Mr. Crane says after he isn't heaving anymore. "Hi Mr. Crane." The class mumbles in unison. Except me.

English is extremely boring. I stare absentmindedly at the ticking clock above Mr. Crane, and I slowly drift off thinking about the times Cato and I had together.

_"Cato!" A six year old Katniss says, her two braids flopping up and down as she runs. A blond boy about the same age runs over to hug her. "Kat, wanna go get some ice cream?" He asks. Katniss frowns, her lower lip jutting out. "Mommy says I can't go anywhere without her." _

_"It's fine." Cato replies, tugging on Katniss's hand. Her frown immediately gets replaced by a huge grin. "Okay." She agrees. _

_The two skip toward the small building Katniss recognized as the ice cream shop. "So, what kind do you want?" Cato asks Katniss. She points toward strawberry. "That." Cato nods and points to a chocolate mint ice cream filled tub. "I want that."_

_"How do we get it?" Katniss asks. _

_"I don't know. I always see someone behind the counter getting it for us."_

_"Me too. Maybe we can get it ourselves this time!" Katniss suggests. Cato agrees. _

_They both climb over the tiny door leading into the kitchen. "We need a scooper." Katniss says while making little scooping motions with her hand. "Yeah. I think I see it!" Cato rushes toward the metal scooper laying on a table. He opens the glass door to the ice cream. A rush of cold air comes out, making Katniss giggle._

_"Let's eat!" Katniss announces, already shoving her hand in the strawberry ice cream tub. She pulls it out reveal an ice cream covered hand. "Yum." Katniss says as she licks her hand clean. "It's sticky, though." Katniss comments and she sticks her hand in for a second "scoop". Cato stares in disgust. "Maybe I'll use the scooper." _

_A while later, a lady comes in from the bathroom. She screams long and loud when she sees Cato and Katniss. Katniss shares a knowing look with Cato. "Run!" She screams, and they dash off before the lady has time to react. _

The scene changes.

_Seven year old Katniss and Cato are in the woods, walking on the trail. "You know," Katniss starts. "If we get lost in the woods someday, we'll be able to survive. Me with the bow and arrow, and you with that stick of yours." _

_"Hey, it's not a stick." Cato says. "It's called a sword. They use it in battles." _

_"But it kind of looks like a stick." _

_"But it's not." _

_"Whatever." Katniss and Cato always had pointless arguments like this, and Katniss was sick of them. _

_Suddenly Katniss had an idea. "Catch me if you can!" She yells at Cato before sprinting off. Katniss was always agile, and could leap over logs and under branches with no effort. Cato, on the other hand, was more bulky and wasn't as agile. He could run, really fast, but only without obstacles in the way. _

_Branches whipped his face as he tried to catch up. Katniss scrambled up a tree when she saw that he was gaining on her. Cato was too heavy and the branches couldn't support his weight. Cato glanced up at Katniss, who was now already thirty feet up in the air. "You win." He says, and pretends to be hurt so Katniss would come down. He clutches his foot and howls, loudly. "Owwwwwwww!" _

_Katniss worries and climbs down, ready to inspect Cato's foot. "It's fine." She tries of calm him. Suddenly, Cato grabs Katniss's arm and he pins her to the ground. "I win." He says in triumph. "No you didn't!" Katniss whines. "If I didn't fall for your trick, I would've won! I mean, I did win!" _

The scene changes, and this time ten year old Cato and Katniss and at school.

_The art teacher, Ms. Wiress walks around the fifth grade room, checking to see if each and one of her pupils was drawing an egg. _

_When she got to the two students sitting in the back, Katniss Everdeen and Cato Ludwig, all she saw on their papers were two sloppy circles. The two students were laughing and reading a book together. _

_Ms. Wiress put her hands on her hips. "You two!" Cato and Katniss look up immediately. "Yessir." They say. "I mean, yes ma'am." Cato and Katniss correct. It makes Ms. Wiress's blood boil. "Go to the principal's office." She orders. "Yes ma'am." They salute, and leave the room marching. The other students giggle among themselves. _

_Meanwhile, Katniss skips along with Cato. "That was so fun. Did you see the look on her face?" They both doubled over in a fit of giggles again. "Who said we couldn't skip school?" Cato says as he pushes open the exit door. Katniss ducks under his arm to get through. _

_The two kids run in the direction of the woods, and find their weapons stashed in the tree. "Man, I didn't know we lived so close to the school." Cato says. "I know." Katniss agrees, stepping over a log. They spend the whole day the forest, only returning home when it was dark. _

_"Cato, I was so worried!" Cato's mom says._

_"Katniss, where were you?" Katniss's mom cries, relieved. _

_"Cato, Katniss, I am very disappointed." Katniss's dad scolds, but the relief was evident on his face. _

_"A mi támbien." Cato's dad says in Spanish, trying to lighten the mood. They all laugh, and join together to eat dinner. _

_That was the first and last time Cato and Katniss tried to skip school. _

The scene changes again. This time, Cato and Katniss are both thirteen.

_Cato and Katniss are laying side by side in a meadow. Katniss twirls a flower absentmindedly between her fingers. Cato twiddles with the grass. "Kat." He says, appearing nervous. "What?" Katniss asks, throwing the shredded flower away. "Do you want to go with me to the movies sometime?"_

_"Like a date?" Katniss asks. _

_"Well, kind of." Cato replies, nervous. _

_"Ew. Gross. No." Katniss says, wrinkling her nose. _

_Cato, feeling rejected, says, "Katniss, you're still so immature." _

_"I'm not immature! I'm just not old enough yet!" _

_"To start dating?" Cato questions. _

_"Yeah. Well, you might not. Because you've probably dated, like, fifty girls already. And it doesn't seem like something fun." _

_"Katniss, it's not like what it seems like." _

_"Yeah it is. People go out, get drunk, and do crazy things. I'm still thirteen, for god's sake!" _

_Cato scoffed. "It's not like I'm going to take you to a party in the middle of the night!" _

_"You might as well!" Katniss retorts. _

_Cato sits up. "Don't let your father's words brainwash you." He says quietly. _

_"I'm not being brainwashed!" Katniss practically screams. _

_"Whatever." Cato sighs and runs a hand through his matted hair. That's how the conversations always ended. 'Whatever'. They never got to go to the movies theaters, and they never went to that meadow again. _

The scene changes once again. Cato and Katniss were fourteen. This was the last day they ever talked before Cato left.

_Katniss watches sadly and enviously as Cato hugged a beautiful blonde haired girl Cato had onced called Glimmer. When Cato caught Katniss's eye, he gave her look that said, talk to you later. Was this girl more important than her? Katniss eye's welled up slightly in tears. _

_Several minutes later, Cato arrived at Katniss's hiding spot behind a fern. "What do you want?" He snapped. _

_"Um, I just wanted to know, who is that girl you're with?"_

_"I already told you. Glimmer Rambin." _

_"Are you two a couple or something?" _

_"Yeah. What's the matter? You jealous or something? Weren't you the one who rejected me last summer?" Katniss looked down, fiddling with her fingernails. _

_"Look, I just want to tell you something." Cato said, void of any emotion. "I'm leaving with Glimmer." _

_"Like a date?" Katniss asked, clueless. _

_"No. Permanently." _

_"Where? Why are you leaving?" Katniss was on the verge of tears. She begged for answers._

_"California. Me and Glimmer are leaving this filthy town and moving on. We want to stay together, so we are." _

_"What about me?" Katniss asked in a quiet, trembling voice. _

_"You? I don't know, just stay here. This filthy town suits you." Guilt was churning in Cato's stomach, but he ignored it. He was betraying his childhood friend. Katniss stated at him in shock. She couldn't believe that this was the Cato she knew. The Cato who was with her when she stole ice cream. The Cato she had years of hunting with in the woods. _

_Cato turned on his heel and left Katniss crouching in the dirt, rocking herself back and forth, trying to control her tears._


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey all, I'm back! Haven't been updating bcs of back to school from spring break exams and stuff. Okay, so Cato was evil(and he maybe still is), but he's going to change. Katniss will be all rude to him for awhile but they'll end up together soon.**

**Btw, thanks to all the reviewers/followers/favorites! I hope you continue to enjoy the story:)**

**So…with all that said, read on! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the hunger games**

* * *

A sharp rapping of knuckles brought Katniss back to her senses. "Miss Everdeen!" Mr. Crane says sternly.

Katniss looks up quickly, "Yes?"

"What were you doing? I asked you a question!"

"Sorry. Can you please repeat the question?"

Mr. Crane huffed and sighed. "Alright. The Catcher in the Rye. You know the book, right?"

Katniss nodded her head. "So, what do you want to ask me?"

"What is so important about the title?" Katniss froze. She hadn't read the book yet. "Uh, um. Because, you know, people catch rye, you know, the wheat?" Katniss stammered out a dumb explanation.

"Did you read the book?" Mr. Crane crosses his arms. "Anyway, we just discussed the title a few minutes ago. Were you not listening?"

"I was…" Katniss lied.

"So, what did the title mean?" Katniss nervously looks around the room. Every pair of eyes were on her. Even Cato's bright blue ones. Out of Katniss's peripheral vision, she saw something move. Cato. He was trying to tell her something! He was holding out his hand flat, mouthing the word 'rye'. Katniss understood that it was a rye field. Katniss nodded ever so slightly.

Cato then made walking motions with his fingers that fall off of the rye field. Then, there was this other person who caught the person falling. A cliff. Katniss understood.

"The Catcher in the Rye means that when people fall off the rye cliff field, the 'catcher' catches them at the bottom." Mr. Crane seems satisfied with her answer. "Very good. So they won't lose their innocence, huh?" Mr. Crane laughs and continues on rambling.

Katniss lets out a breath she didn't she was holding and relaxes her head on the desk. Underneath her arm, she could see Cato's piercing eyes staring at her. "Thank you." She mouths. Cato smirks and leans back in his chair, making it creak.

* * *

"So what happened back there?" Cato asks, as soon as we're out of class.

"I don't know." I lied. "I guess I just blanked out."

Cato lets out a fake gasp. "You're talking to me! You answered me! Does that mean you'll forgive me? Oh, forgive me, my fairest beauty!" He chuckles at his own little speech, but I'm unamused.

"I'm not your 'fairest beauty'." I say, annoyed, walking away from him. Every time I see Cashmere and Cato kissing in my head, I get angry. I definitely don't want to let out my anger here.

"Wait," Cato shouts, when I'm several feet in front of him.

"I want to go to university, you know." I say, turning around. "I've been late to almost every class."

"Sorry. I just wanted to give you something." Cato says, as he digs around in his backpack.

"I don't accept gifts from strangers." I scowl and turn back around. A gift won't make me go back to him. Who does he think I am? A girl who craves expensive gifts from boys? More like Glimmer and Cashmere. I look at their personality, not how rich they are. "I'm not a stranger." I hear Cato whisper behind me. "I've known you since I was born."

I ignore him and stalk down the hallway, toward Mr. Becotte's French class. This is the first time that I'm not late for class.

Lunch was particularly difficult. I can't stand all the whispers and staring around me. "What is happening? How do they know that Cashmere and Cato did that?" I ask Clove.

"Word gets around." She replies, shrugging. "By the way, Prim's getting out of the hospital soon."

"Really?" I shriek with delight. "Prim! I can't wait to visit you tonight!"

Heads turn, people stare. They start pointing and whispering things like, "She's the girl Cato cheated on!" or "She broke up with Cato at the dance last Friday night!" I give them each death glares before resume eating.

Unfortunately, Cashmere hears. She carries her lunch tray, and slowly sashays over to where I'm sitting. Clove ignores her, but gives her side looks once in a awhile. "Hey, Kat, she's heading your way." Clove says suddenly. I stiffen when I feel Cashmere's breath on my neck.

"Prim! I can't wait to visit you tonight!" Cashmere mimics in a high, shrill voice. "Is that your flower or something?" She sneers. I pick at the bun of my hot dog.

"No. Please stop getting in my business."

"Your business? Cato isn't just your business. He's mine." Cashmere says.

"He's all yours. No need to share." I reply back, hoping for her to leave. With that, Cashmere does leave, heading over to Cato. I'm confident that I don't want Cato as a boyfriend ever again. He was such a jerk, and he still is. But when the more I think about it, the more confused I am.

Marvel glances from me back to Cashmere, back and forth. "Wow, Kat. No one dares to say stuff to Cashmere in that kind of atttitude. Even Glimmer." I nod, proud that I stood up for myself.

"So," Madge says, picking at her hot dog. "I have a spring party type of thing at my house next week."

"Oh my god, is Finnick gonna be there?" Annie asks.

"I have to invite everyone in the grade." Madge sighs. "I hope we have enough food. But our house is definitely big."

"What time?" I ask, sipping my drink.

"Umm, six to twelve?"

I choke and sputter on my water. "Six hours? Are you serious?"

"Yeah. But my parents say, no crazy partying."

"Obviously," Clove chimes in. "We're only juniors. No like, you know, crazy partying."

"That's what I just said." Madge says.

Clove rolls her eyes. "Who cares."

"Is Cato going?" I ask.

"I have to invite him."

"Nah, count me out, then." I say. I'm going nowhere near Cato.

"You should go, Cato's probably just going to be making out with Cashmere the whole time." Foxface says. I have to admit it, that hurt. But I've learned how to disguise my emotions well.

"Yeah." Everbody else chimes in. Except Clove. I bet she understands what I feel like about Cato.

"I think you should go, Katniss. It'll be fun." Clove says. Never mind, nobody understands me.

"I'll think about it." I sigh. This brings a bunch of squeals and laughter from my friends. "Good choice, Kat!" Thresh booms. Half of the cafeteria turns around to look at us. Thresh covers his face in embarrassment, while Delly pats his back. I catch Cato's eye as they narrow-enviously, or is it jealously-toward our table. Cashmere was trying to get his attention was puckering her lips toward him. Pathetic.

I smile triumphantly, and turn, satisfied, back toward my lunch. Of course, everyone noticed that. Clove tries to hide her smile. "You did it, Katniss." She says. "Just a little bit more each time. Until he regrets doing that to you."

"I know. I'm still working on it." I sling my arm across Marvel's shoulders. He looks at it, bewildered. I wink at him, and he understands immediately. I manage to shush everyone when Cato comes over, a fuming Cashmere sitting by the now empty seat.

"Cato." I say calmly, once he approaches.


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry I haven't updated in what, nearly a week? My iPad crashed, practically unheard of, but it did, and I lost all my documents. I had a tennis tournament and science olympiad, so yeah, I was a bit busy. Thanks for all the reviews, though!**

**By the way, firework7 pointed out that nobody's ever seen Katniss use a bow and arrow, but in the flashbacks Cato did. So, I just wanted to change that the only people that have ever seen her use the bow and arrows are her family and Cato. But they haven't seen her use it so well.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the hunger games**

* * *

"Hello, Katniss." He replies with the same cool demeanor. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," I answer, before hugging Marvel once. He returns the hug, and whispers seductively in my ear, "Doing great, Kitty." _Kitty?_ What kind of nickname was that? I'd much rather prefer Firegirl or Girl on Fire as much as I hate it.

I can feel waves of anger radiate off of Cato as I let go of Marvel. Ha ha. I can see my friends barely containing their laughter. Cato is too mad to notice. He grabs my arm roughly, and pulls me over to another hallway.

I plant my feet firmly on the carpeted area closest to the cafeteria, and don't move. When Cato figures that I won't go anywhere even if he pays me one hundred bucks, he grabs me by my shoulders. "Katniss." He says, looking at my eyes. His usual lighter shade of blue has now darkened over, turning his irises in a dark grayish color. It's hard to break eye contact once you gaze in those hypnotizing eyes. I force myself to look away, but I can't.

"What?" I ask, tearing my arms away from his grasp and crossing my arms, still staring into his eyes.

"Um, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry. I know what I did was unacceptable." He looks down, his blond eyelashes brushing against his cheek.

"It was worse then 'unacceptable'. It was intolerable, unforgivable. Cannot be endured." I sneer.

His hands reach back toward his back pockets.

"I don't need gifts." I say, realizing what he was doing.

"I just need to show you something." He says, clutching the mysterious object in his hand.

"No." I turn away.

"Please, Katniss." He pleads.

"Why should I even trust you anymore?" I ask, my back still towards him.

"Because I'm a honest person. I learned my lesson. I'll never kiss anyone else again, or cheat on you, I can be trusted. That was just a mistake, an accident. I promise I'll never do it again. Katniss, you have to understand…I didn't mean it…" He rambles on ridiculously.

"Wow." I snort. "A mistake. An accident. How can you accidentally kiss someone you hate with all your heart? Or do you still have feelings for that pathetic little freak, what's her name again? Oh, Cashmere."

Cato was about to interject, when I continued bitterly, "If you still like Cashmere or Glimmer, go find them. I'm sure they'll satisfy all your needs. Go find those girlfriends you love so much."

"No, Katniss. I love you." Cato states boldly, spinning me around to face him. I stare at him in awe, did he just say he loved me? But anger still coursed through my veins.

"Then why'd you cheat on me with Cashmere?"

"I-I it was an accident." He stammers. "I promise I won't do it again."

Tears brim at the corners of my eyes, but I don't know why. "Then prove it." I say.

Cato gathers me in a bone-crushing hug. His mouth suddenly meets mine. He kissed me. It was brief, but very passionate and sweet. **(Btw i am horrible at romantic stuff) **His breath smelled like peppermints. During that brief moment, Cato had fastened something around my neck.

I look down to see the Swarovski necklace he gave me when he asked to be my girlfriend. The crystal still shined. The gold chain still flashed under the fluorescent lightbulbs. "You kept it?" I breathed.

"Yeah. Of course." He smirked. "Why would I forget something so expensive?"

"I'll give you one last chance." I tilted my head upwards, and our lips meet again.

* * *

My phone dinged loudly. I put down the mechanical pencil for my homework, sighing. It was a group text message from Delly. Foxface, Annie, Madge and Clove were also in the group. Clove was supposed to be at some sort of track meet.

**Delly: Omg Katniss, we want 2 hear all about u & Cato!**

**Me: Kk. So…I was angry at him. For real. And then we talked about stuff. Then he kissed me and returned my Swarovski necklace. And I forgave him and we kissed again. **

**Madge: Not enough info. **

**Me: U want specifics? Like what position the wrinkles on his t-shirt were? Nope. Sry. **

**Madge: Whatever. **

**Clove: Omg. He kissed u. I read ur texts and I was like wow. **

**Me. Yah. I know right? That was the best story on earth. Obviously.**

**Foxface: Sup, guys. So what happened w/ Kat? **

**Madge: Read the texts! **

**Foxface: Haha. I'm so stupid. Yeah. **

**Foxface: R u serious? U forgave him? What a jerk he was! **

I gawked at the screen. Was I not supposed to forgive him? Will he fit the description "once a cheater, always a cheater"? Another ding brings my attention back to the screen.

**Clove: Foxface… **

**Foxface: Sry. But I was just excited. **

**Annie: It's not that interesting, guys. Katniss is under pressure right now, give her a break.**

**Me: Ikr, thx Annie! Ur the best xx **

**Annie: :)**

I pretty much ignore all the dings coming from my phone after that. After I mark the final answer on my paper, I rise out of myseat and prepare to head over to the hospital to visit Prim. Today, Prim will be able to come home and live with us, but will have to take medication. I say bye to Lynn and a friend that was visiting, who were having a wholehearted conversation about teenagers and "growing up".

I am now familiar with the roads in the city. But today there is no time to admire the sparkling diamond skyscapers. Prim is going to come home! I feel giddy in my seat and almost crash into a silver Dodge Challenger. Show off.

When I arrive at Prim's hospital room, Prim was chatting was a nurse. I completely ignore the nurse and run towards Prim. "Prim!" I squeal delightedly, picking my little sister up. "You get to come home!" I cheer, ignoring the stares given to me from the other patients in the hallway. Prim's baby blue eyes are full of light now, she looks so much healthier. I hug her and spin her around the room. Prim laughs, and my mother watches from the corner.

She looks tired, from staying in the hospital for so long. "Mom." I cross over to her. I take her frail hands and hold them in mine. "Thank you for staying with Prim. She needed you, I'm glad you were there for her. I love you, Mom." My mom's tears start to leak out slowly, one by one.

Soon a whole trail of salty water flow down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Katniss. I promise to never leave you again like before." I hug my mom, rocking her back and forth. Prim joins in a second later, the rhymical rocking making me drowsy. Let's talk about awkward.

On the way home, Prim talks excitedly about returning home to her new friend, Rue. I relax in my seat and watch my mom drive carefully down the bridge before taking out my phone. Clove and the others had a nice long conversation about their boyfriends and how nice and sweet they were, but I had another unread text from Cato.


	16. Chapter 16

**Heyyy! Thanks for all the reviews! Don't have much to say here…so, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the hunger games**

* * *

It read: **Will you come to the park at 5:00?**

When did he get my number? Suspicion came over me as I read his text again. It was 4:30 already. Should I go? Or not? My superego and my id debated back and forth in my mind. I let out a huge sigh, and plopped back against the seat.

Prim looked at me with concern. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Just relieved that you get to come home." I half lied.

"Well, okay." Prim said. It was her turn to get suspicious.

"Really, I'm fine." I shoved my phone back in my pocket and closed my eyes.

A huge jolt awakened me. I had fallen asleep unconsciously. I checked the time; it was already 4:50. Ten more minutes. The park was a walking distance away from my house, I could get there In five minutes. That gives me the other five minutes to decide.

Exactly five minutes later, I said bye to my mom, Prim, and Lynn, and stepped onto the sidewalk. I jogged across the road and arrived at the entrance gate. All the snow had melted, so I could clearly see what the golden wires spelled out. Everdeen Park. Huh? As I inched cautiously to the stone dedication/recognition sign, a face of a guy could barely be seen carved onto it.

From erosion, the smaller words weren't legible. But I could read the bigger letters on top: THIS PARK IS DEDICATED TO JOHN EVERDEEN, WHO PROTECTED OUR COUNTRY IN THE IRAQ WAR, THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISTS. I gaped at the title. My dad? Are you serious? I didn't know my dad died in a war. The letters that were sent home said he died of old age. Of course he died from the war.

I must have gawked at the sign for too long, because when I checked the time, it was already a few minutes after five. I hurried into the park, and find that the Bradford pear trees have already bloomed. A whole sea of white blossoms covered half of the tiny park. I spot Cato leaning against one of the trees. He had his eyes closed, and he was facing upwards at the sun.

"Hey, Cato." I say, and he jumps back about 10 feet from the tree. "Sorry if I scared you, " I teased.

"You didn't scare me." He defends himself.

"Whatever," I say, and then we are both overcome by déjà vu. Cato shakes out of the trance before I do, so he snaps his fingers in front of my face.

"Firegirl, we have a limited amount of time here. The park closes at 6:00."

"Wow, uh, that early?" I ask stupidly.

"Yeah. It says at the entrance." He rolls his eyes. "Maybe you weren't observant enough to notice."

"So," I say with extra emphasis, ready to change the topic, "why did you ask me to come? And how'd you get my number?"

"I have my resources." He replies.

"Why'd you bring me here?" I asked again.

"To talk about some…stuff."

"Okay…" I agree.

"I just wanted to clear some things up. Are we still together?"

"Um. Yeah. Didn't I tell you one last chance? I don't tolerate cheating. If I didn't really…" I hesitate slightly on the word, "love you, then I would've given up already."

"I'm surprised you haven't kicked me out yet." Cato jokes.

"I never will, because I love you, remember?" I put my hands around his neck and plant a small kiss on his lips. More like a peck, really. Cato pouts.

"Aw. Cato wants more of Katniss's kisses?" I tease Cato by leaning toward him, but pulling away right at the lest second. "Well, too bad, because if you want one if Katniss's kisses you gotta behave real well." I wag a finger at him.

Cato laughs, and picks me up. "Wanna go somewhere?" He asks, as I flail around wildly.

"Put me down first!" I order, but I'm also laughing so hard that my stomach hurts.

"Like, a pizzeria or something?"

"Fine." I agree, and he sets me back down. Fifteen minutes later, we arrive at Polly's Pizza Palace **(lol I just made that up from the top of my head).** The name of the place didn't exaggerate. It really was a palace; probably as big as Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas! Now I'm probably exaggerating, but what I mean is, it was huge. It was more like a diner than a pizza place.

The waitress was definitely trying to flirt with Cato. Cato, in return, winked seductively back. "That's more like something Finnick would do," I comment. We finish our food in a matter of minutes when my mom calls me to head home.

When the waitress hands Cato the check, she makes sure to brush her fingers across his knuckles. Her hands linger there for awhile. _That is just weird._ She was totally oblivious to me as she stared at Cato with a mixture of lust and something else- something that I can't quite place.

Cato pulls away uncomfortably when the waitress goes too far and starts rubbing his biceps. "Ahem," he coughs extra loudly.

"Oh!" The waitress pulls away abruptly from him and starts blushing furiously. She's probably expecting Cato to say, "I love it when you blush! Don't try to hide it!" She wishes. But instead, Cato hands her the tips and says, "Thank you for serving us tonight." I bet only I could catch the slight emphasis on "serving".

A buzzing from my phone alerts my attention. A text from an unknown number: **Katniss Everdeen! If you don't go home this second and leave my Cato alone, who knows what's going to happen to your pretty little face?** I stare at the text, unable to process the words. Cato takes the phone from my hands and scans it. "Wow, this girl's harsh." He says, handing me my phone back.

"How do you know it's a 'she'?" I ask.

"It's obvious. It says 'my Cato'. Would a guy call me theirs? Okay, that's just awkward."

"Yeah, yeah, I get your point."

Silence fills the air. The chattering and screaming of the people in the restaurant were only distant chants. "Let's get you back home." Cato says at last, leading me to his car. "Okay."

The rest of the ride was uneventful. Cato and I talked about random stuff as he drove. We shared to each other what's been happening when we were separated for the two years.

Cato's been attending Cedarwood High since he's left. He immediately joined the Careers, who Clove told me about at the beginning of the year. He was dating Glimmer, but so many girls began to take a liking on him that he was overwhelmed. From then on it was an on-off relationship between Glimmer and Cato.

It was very surprising to know that Annie used to be part of the Careers. Then Finnick sort of traded spots with her. The two both have crushes on each other but they are both to shy to admit it. Cato said that Finnick should "grow some balls" and ask her out. Cashmere and Gloss were siblings, and they dated random people. Now Gloss is officially with Glimmer. _But not for long,_ I think.

But what surprised me the most was that Cato and Clove dated for about a month before they split. That probably was what Clove was referring to when she said "don't go falling for Cato".

Cato also said he joined the football team and took Gale's position as quarterback. Gale was now a forward- an awful one, as Cato described it. Cato decided to join the swim team after Finnick's persuasion. He ended up liking swimming, and joined the swim team. He introduced himself to track. Cato also joined the track team. All these sports combined together many Cato the strong and tall person he was.

Cato said he tried to forget about me over the course of one year. But it was too hard. He said there was always a small part of his heart that contained guilt; he said that there was always love for me. So romantic, but I'm ecstatic that after two years of suffering, both of us reunite and start over fresh. Basically.

When Cato's car came to a stop in front of my house, I kissed Cato goodbye. "You behaved extra-well." I said. "So, you deserve a bonus kiss." I kissed him again, this time lightly on his nose. Cato smiled, and we both opened our mouths, knowing what we will say before sound comes out.

"I love you."

"I love you more." Cato says.

"It's one argument that nobody can get tired about."


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry this chapter's so short. I wrote it in like five minutes. So, the next chapters are going to be longer (hopefully) and much more interesting. Thanks for all the reviews and followers and favoriters! Once again, please review! How long does it take to say 'great job' or some constructive criticism?**

**i don't own the hunger games**

* * *

"Mom." I called as I headed into the house. My mom headed over to me, looking at me up and down. "What?" I ask, suddenly self-conscious. "Do I have a spitball on me or something?"

"Where have you been, young lady?" My mom questions sternly.

"Oh-um!" I forgot to tell her that I was going to see Cato! She doesn't even know Cato goes to my school. What should I say? "Well, I went to the park, to see an old friend, and he took me to Polly's Pizza Palace."

"An old friend? Who is this 'he'?"

"It's a guy that you know very well." I say slowly.

"Which guy? You mean Johnny, the pizza delivery guy?"

"No! I mean, he used to be my childhood friend. You should remember him." Shock registered on my mom's face. Yup, she definitely knows. "Don't ever bring up the topic of your father again. I'm trying to forget, okay? Even though I loved him." Never mind.

"Yes." I say in a small voice. "But do you really not remember?" My mom shakes her head, and says, "Just tell me who it is."

"His name is Cato. Cato Ludwig." I say so quietly even I could barely hear myself.

"You mean, the one guy who left with Glimmer Rambin?"

"Yeah."

"Stay away from him." My mom orders, loudly. "You need to. It's for the best."

Lynn and Clove appear behind my mom. "Stay away from who?" Clove asks, her eyebrows furrowed. She was still wearing running shorts and her shirt soaked with sweat. My mom turns around to face them.

"You know Cato Ludwig?" She says.

"Yeah." Lynn and Clove say in unison.

"Stay away from him." Lynn visibly clutches her daughter's shoulders tighter.

"What did he do?" I ask.

"His father is an alcoholic. His mother is a drug addict as well as a smoker. They have both been in prison multiple times." My mom explained.

"How do you know? The last time I saw his parents, they were healthy and happy. Maybe that was a bit of an understatement, but, Cato's dad was super nice! He can't be an alcoholic! Cato's mom, was more, how to say, not as _sociable_, but she was nice too! They can't be drug addicts! Where did you find out?"

"I heard. In the news."

"Think logically, mom. Why would Cato's parents be in the newspaper? This is a humongous town, okay? There are plenty of other more interesting articles, stories, whatever, to share than about an alcoholic and a drug addict! And, anyway, even if Cato's parents were like how you described them, what does that have to do with Cato?"

"Oh, Katniss, sweetheart. You don't understand. I'm just warning you, stay away from him. No matter how close you were to him before. He's a bad sign." My mom sighs. "Trust me, Katniss."

Clove stares at me, wide-eyed. "Kat, we have a lot to talk about tonight."

"Maybe tomorrow." I fake yawn.

"But it's only seven!" Clove whines like a toddler.

"Who cares! I wanna go sleep early today!" I stomp up the stairs, but not before I hear Lynn say, "What's her problem?" I didn't know adults could be so immature.

Before brushing my teeth, I check the mystery text again. I didn't recognize the number. Should I test back? My fingers fly across the small touchscreen keyboard and type out three words: Who are you?

This time, I real yawn, and start to prepare for bed. I take a quick shower, and climb into the covers when I suddenly realize I forgot to tell my mom something. "Mom!" I yell at the top of my lungs, and run down the stairs in my pajamas.

"What is it, Katniss?" My mom appears out of the kitchen, with a dish towel in one hand and a still dripping plate in another. "The park over there, " I gesture toward the general direction, "is called Everdeen Park!"

"I know." My mom sighed.

"What? How do you know?"

"Look, Katniss, this is the real reason I want you to stay away from Cato." She says, drying the plate.

"Why didn't you tell me to stay away from him when we were in the hospital? Together?"

"I didn't know he was _the_ Cato. I thought he was just a guy who looked similar…so, anyway, there's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time, Katniss. You know the reason why Cato's family left so abruptly? Because they were guilty."

"Guilty of what?" I questioned.

"Hold on. Don't interrupt." I fall silent, and let my mom continue. "They were guilty of…killing your dad."

"What?! That can't be true! Cato's family did not kill my dad? No way!" I burst out.

"Cato's father was also in the war, remember? He killed your father, because he was jealous. He wanted daughters, not sons-"

"Wait!" I cut her off. "Cato has brothers?"

"He does. But, they don't live here. I think they got sent to an orphanage or something."

"But how can Cato's dad kill my dad? Aren't we all on the same side? Wouldn't he get arrested for killing my dad, anyway?"

"No. It's not as simple as you think. Nobody knows your father died from Cato's dad. Except for me, of course. It was a very sophisticated, detailed and prepared plan. He told me about it, even."

"Mom. Your kind of contradicting with yourself. If he told you that he was going to kill my father, wouldn't you have said no? Why'd didn't you say anything about it? Did you really love my dad?" A series of questioned flow through my mouth.

"Oh, he told me after he killed him." My mom corrected rather reluctantly. _Liar liar pants on fire, Mom._

"T-That's, u-unbelievable." I stammer. "Impossible."

"Think about it." My mom says calmly.

"Okay." I whisper back, keeping my promise.

But the more I think about it, the more confused I get. I'm starting to get brainwashed into believing what my mom said. I'm never going to forgive Cato. His father did not murder my father. Yes he did. I don't know. But I have a feeling my mom was lying about Cato's family.


	18. Chapter 18

**I didn't have a lot of HW today, so I got to write a longer chapter! But don't expect me to update this often anymore, because in school, we are "approaching the middle of the semester", so we usually get a TON of HW. Remember, though, r&r! The reviews make my day!**

**By the way, this chapter has more than 2,000 words! Frustratedpopcorn record! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games**

* * *

The next morning at school, I keep my mom's warning in mind. "Stay away from Cato," she had said. When I arrive at the building, Cato waves at me and gestures me to head over to him. I want to head over to him, but instead, I trudge silently in the opposite direction. He looks bewildered and tugs a little on my arm when he catches up.

"Kat?" He asks, breathing quickly.

"I'll talk to you later." I reply simply, prying away his fingers that are latched onto my arm.

"What? Why?" He drops his arm to the side, and looks so heartbroken that I just want to hug him and say, "Nothing, pretend I didn't say anything." But I force myself to look away sorrowful eyes, looking rejected.

"I'll explain. Just go to class. You're late." I turn around and head into the school. I didn't mean to be so harsh. But if his father did kill mine…I'm going to murder him myself. **(Maybe not, but you get the point.)**

Seems like I really did wake up at the wrong side of the bed. I got a C on an important exam for The Catcher in the Rye in English. Thankfully, I'm not one of those "grade-grubbers", so I don't argue with Mr. Crane when he tells me my overall English grade has lowered to a B.

I linger by the cafeteria door when it's lunch time. Madge was probably making out somewhere with Gale, because she said she would skip lunch to meet up with him. Clove and Peeta were giggling while Peeta feeds Clove his famous cheese buns. Peeta's family owned a bakery. Marvel, Foxface, Delly, and Thresh were chatting casually while munching on some chips Thresh brought in. Annie was nowhere to be seen, until I spot her flirting with Finnick at a separate table.

I awkwardly clutch my brown bag lunch and head over to Clove's table. "Hey." I say as I sit down. My chair scrapes noisily against the linoleum when I pull in my chair.

"Yo." Marvel says, glancing at me, but he returns to the conversation right after. Foxface, Delly, and Thresh are so engaged that they don't notice me until my chair makes the scraping sound.

"Hey, Kat!" Thresh booms, giving me an one arm hug. Foxface and Delly laugh, also greeting me. I note how Delly pulls Thresh slightly closer to her when he hugged me. She's jealous.

"So, how's life?" Foxface asks me, stuffing her mouth with chips while beckoning me to eat some. I tentatively reach for a chip, and slowly chew on it. Salty flavor floods my mouth.

"So-so." I reply to Foxface.

She shrugs. "Okay." The group returns to discuss whatever they were talking about. I feel so awkward and out of place, flanked on both sides by people who are not talking to me and ignoring my presence.

"You know what," I announce. "I got to study for my Trig test, anyway. So I'm gonna head to the library." Marvel gives a brief nod, with a "sorry" look on his face. I force a smile on mine, and pick up my stuff. Gym starts in fifteen minutes.

When I arrive at the entrance of the library, I see Cato sitting at one of the study tables, head buried in a book. I've never seen him that studious. I set my bag quietly down on the chair, and sit down across from Cato. "Hi." Cato says, eyes still on his book.

"Oh, hi." I say back, surprised that he greeted me with such calmness.

"Tell me, what did I do wrong?" He snaps his book shut and shoves it in his own bag, focusing on me.

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why are you being like this? It seems as if every time we get together something tears us apart. No matter who's fault."

"It's your father's fault." I blurt.

"What do you mean? What does my dad have to do with this?"

"You know what your dad did. Stop faking." I hiss.

"Really, Kat. I don't know what my dad did." Cato looks confused.

"Stop lying, Cato."

"I'm not lying." Cato says, choosing his words carefully.

"You really have no idea what your dad did." I ask incredulously.

"No, I don't."

"Liar." I say between my teeth. "Did you know that-"

I am cut off by the librarian, Ms. Trinket, who is also the receptionist I met on my first day here. "Stop with the lovers quarrel, you two. Very bad role models for the younger students." She says, wagging a finger.

I instantly redden when I see a couple of freshmen giggling. The seniors, the older students, are completely ignoring us. "We aren't having a 'lovers quarrel', Mrs…Trinket. We are just discussing our English project. By the way, you look really nice today." Cato says, winking at her. It always works for Cato.

Flustered, Ms. Trinket stutters out an apology: "Sorry for disturbing you, my dearies. And Cato, you look very handsome today." Mrs. Trinket waves a gloved hand and sashays off. She looked ridiculous, wearing a blue aquamarine hoop skirt and a tight green tank top. She wore a fake diamond tiara on her dyed yellow hair. I bet you'll never find out the woman's real hair color.

Cato immediately turns serious when Ms. Trinket leaves. "Katniss, you can tell me anything. What did my father do?" The fact that he's using my full first name means that he's not kidding or joking.

"Your father…he killed my father."

"What?" Cato's eyebrows furrow together as he looks at me like I just sprouted two heads.

"Your father killed my father." I repeat more slowly and more distinctly. Then I realize how stupid and weird it sounded.

"No, he didn't, my father would not do that." Cato retorts.

"Did you know that your father an alcoholic? Did you know that your mother is a smoker and a drug addict? Did you know that? Your father murdered mine and that is a _fact_!" I nearly whisper-scream.

"What the heck, Katniss?!" Cato slams his hands down on the wooden table, causing me to flinch. He was not whisper-screaming at all. "You. Don't. Understand! Stop saying these things about my parents! They're not true and you know it!"

It's almost amazing how short his temper is. One strap on his backpack is already breaking from him holding it so hard; he's basically tearing the fabric. He's exploding. But it's also amazing how I can't shut up when he's angry. It just makes me even angrier.

"Who cares? They are drug addicts, they are smokers, they are alcoholics and you know it! You are a liar! Stop defending your parents and tell me the truth!" This simple "discussion" has turned into a full-blown argument.

"Shut up, Katniss, just shut up! You have no right to say these things about my parents!" Cato yells. Ms. Trinket cowers in her seat nearby, and I can barely hear her say, "Wow, intense English discussion. They must have completely different ideas." I turn back to Cato, glaring at him. He's never talked to me like this before. _Never_. Instead of feeling betrayed, I feel angrier. I always imagine anger like a thermometer; right now the red stuff**(what is it called?)** is about to burst right out of the tube.

"I can say anything want! Get your facts right! In the U.S. you have freedom of speech! And religion and press and assembly and petition!"

"We're not talking about Social Studies here!" Cato shouts.

That's when I notice nobody's in the library anymore. The bell must have rang during our argument. I don't want to be late for gym. I rapidly pack up my things and avoid eye contact with Cato. I sling my backpack over my shoulder and stalk out the doors, leaving Cato standing frozen in the middle of the room.

In the middle of the Trigonometry test, my phone started vibrating. Thankfully, nobody heard it, so I quietly slipped my phone into my backpack. Before Art with my favorite teacher, Cinna, I check who the text was from. Again, the unknown number. **Katniss** **Everdeen, stop hurting my boyfriend, Cato. If you dare touch him again, I'm sure I'll murder you,** it read.

It could be anybody. It could be one of Cato's fangirls from the sophomore year. Or maybe freshmen. Maybe even some senior girls. But most likely Glimmer or Cashmere. The pea-green bubbles on the screen stare right back at me, giving me no clues except their phone number. I sigh, for about the one hundredth time today, and head towards the art room.

Cinna claps his hands together, when he sees that everyone is here. "Today, class, you will start on a new project." The class groaned in unison, except me. "Hold on, wait. There's more. I haven't even explained it yet. You will be painting on a canvas, with a partner. You will think of a topic, such as flowers or the sunset- something. You will paint a nature scene." My mind instantly thinks of Cato, but no. I can't be his partner after the fight.

He pulls out a few past examples to show us. After half an hour of explaining, Cinna prepares assigns us partners. In his usual "fun" way. There are numbers labeled from 1-12. Whoever gets the same number as you is your partner. We don't show our numbers to each other yet. Finally, when Clove draws out the last number, the room gets chaotic.

Almost every girl surrounds Cato, seeing what number he got. I ignore him and search for the number twelve. Turns out that Peeta got the other twelve. "Team twelve." He says, and fist pumps me. Cato sees this exchange and frowns. What's his problem?

In the end, Cato's partner was Clove. They both got number two. So the results were like this: **(I changed up some districts, so they are different from the hunger games)**

1- Glimmer, Marvel

2- Clove, Cato

3- somebody

4- Annie, Finnick

5- Madge, Gale

6- somebody

7- Foxface, Johanna

8- Delly, Cecelia

9- somebody

10- somebody

11- Chaff, Thresh

12- Me, Peeta

"So, Peeta." I turn towards him.

"Huh?" He asks.

"What topic should we choose for the painting?"

"I don't know, maybe like water or something?" Peeta says, right when Finnick and Annie announce, "We're painting water!"

"Aw, dang it. That was a good idea." I frown. What else could we do?

"What others ideas do you have, Peeta?" I ask him.

"My favorite color is orange. Like the sunset you know. That kind of orange."

"Oh, okay…" I'm not sure what that had to do with the project.

Peeta sees my expression and laughs lightly. "You probably think I'm a psycho right now, saying something that has nothing to do with the project."

"Oh, no, you're fine. I was just thinking, maybe we could be fire. It has kind of an orange to it. My old friend used to call me 'Firegirl' or 'The Girl on Fire'. Fire isn't vulnerable, it's strong, and, you get the point."

I turn to face him again, but Peeta is already bounding across the room, cheering, "Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!"


	19. Chapter 19

**Been busy practicing Clair de Lune for a big solo coming up. Ugh. -_- At least I squeezed some time out and wrote this chapter. Remember to R&R! The reviews always make me smile :) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games. **

* * *

Peeta and I decided on painting an oil on canvas of a forest fire type thing. He excitedly sketched it out on a piece of notebook paper, saying how cool the painting would turn out like. Cinna walked around the room, occasionally checking on how the students were doing.

When he got to us, Peeta showed his sketch proudly to Cinna. "A forest fire." He stated the obvious. Cinna strokes his chin, like he's deep in thought. "Peeta, I have some suggestions for your painting." He pulls out the pencil he always has tucked behind his ear and starts drawing something on the paper.

I curiously look over his shoulder. In a few simple strokes, Cinna had made the fire even more brilliant. It looked as if it was actually burning. Peeta gapes at the drawing with his mouth hanging open, and stutters out three words, "Oh my god."

I also stare at the drawing, admiring Cinna's work. He is a genius with art and design. I heard that one year, he made the costumes for the annual chariot school parade. Speaking of…

"Excuse me!" I shout across the room.

Cinna glances up. "Don't yell, Katniss. I'm right here, what do you want to ask?"

"When is the chariot parade this year?"

"Oo, great question, Katniss." Cinna walks towards Peeta and me. "You two." With a flick of his wrist, he gestures for us to walk out with him. From the corner of my eye, I see Cato glaring at me. No, not excatly at me. At the whole group I'm with.

Outside in the hall, Cinna made an important declaration. Just to Peeta and me.

* * *

**(I've decided to change Gym to last class of the day, to avoid any conflict and such.)**

Last class, Gym. Rare two-team relay races in gym today. The team captains were Cato and Gloss. They glared at each other right before Atala turns around to look at them. "Cato, you choose first." She announces.

The skilled people usually get chosen first, the "less skilled" people, no offense, but Madge is one of them, usually gets chosen last. I'm considered as one of the more skilled people.

Cato's eyes sweep across the room once, and his gaze settles on Glimmer's pleading face. Glimmer is about to head towards Cato, when Cato says, "I haven't picked you." Glimmer frowns and backs to her spot. Cato's still staring at Glimmer when he says, "Katniss." I pinch my arm to make sure I'm not hallucinating. _Me? _

"Okay…" I walk slowly to Cato, standing off to the very side. Gloss curses under his breath, and I'm sure he said, "I was going to pick her." Gloss smirks and says, "Finnick."

Finnick, who is wearing a white T-shirt straining across his muscles, marches up. Annie's jaw drops, and she stares wide-eyed at him. "Like what you see?" Finnick says to her, flexing his biceps. I can imagine drool dripping around on the floor next to Annie.

Meanwhile, Glimmer pouts. She leans against Marvel for support, and wails loudly: "Cato! I thought you were going to pick me! I'm way better than that sl-" before she can say more, Atala blows her whistle loudly. "No foul language."

"Anyway." Glimmer exaggerates, "Gloss, why didn't you choose me? I'm the best choice! Out of all these people here!" Atala looks on with a look of amusement on her face, and I see Cato shuffling his feet on the ground. He's bored.

"Just get it on with." I interrupt Glimmer's rambling. Her lower lip trembles and it looks as if she is about to cry. Glimmer is so weak that it's pathetic. Atala gives me a grateful look, explaining that she does not know how to deal with rambling, sensitive girls.

Cato glances around the room again, thinking about who to pick. Glimmer gives him a hopeful look, but Cato doesn't even make eye contact with her when he looks around. "Pick Gale, he's really good at running." I whisper to him. Cato shrugs and points at Gale, who is very surprised.

Gloss chooses Cashmere, who isn't even in the proper attire for gym. We get Marvel, who high fives Gale excitedly. Gloss gets Annie, because of all the pestering from Finnick. Annie was never good at relays; I remember from my first gym class here. Cato chooses Thresh, who marches loudly across the floor. Gloss points at Peeta. Peeta treads reluctantly towards Gloss. We choose Foxface. Gloss chooses Delly, who gazes longingly back at Thresh. This process only lasts about a minute. It went fast.

We pick Madge next, and she squeals happily, tackling me to the ground. Cato raises his eyebrows at us, but looks like he is forcing back a smile. In the end, Glimmer is the last one left. Cato says that Gloss can have her "for free".

"No thanks. Good luck with her," Gloss says back with the fakest smile I've ever seen.

"I don't need it." Cato says back, with an equally sickly sweet smile.

Glimmer launches in between the two boys, whining loudly, "I'm not an item to be fought around with. How about I pick which team I'm on?" Cato shrugs nonchalantly, and Gloss tries to act as cool as Cato. "Fine."

Glimmer does the eeni meeni miini moh thing that kids always do. "Hurry up, Glitter." I hiss.

"My name is not Glitter." Glimmer puts her hands on her hips.

"Hurry up! I don't give a damn about your name." I hiss again, with more venom.

Glimmer shrinks away. "Fine, fine."

Atala also snaps her fingers, saying, "C'mon, only forty minutes left. And Katniss," she looks sternly at me, "no foul language." Glimmer stomps over to Gloss's group. Cato puts on a triumphant smirk, and Gloss tries not to put on a disgusted face when Glimmer attempts to give him a kiss. So much for being a good boyfriend.

We discussed about the order of the running. Cato suggests that he should go first, to give us a head start, while I go last, to catch up to the other team if we need to.

Cato gets way ahead of Gloss, which gives Madge a head start. We continue like this for the whole race, and then it's me. Me vs. Glimmer. She starts a little later than me, so that gives me a chance for a head start. Glimmer runs in tiny steps to the wall, and weakly propels herself off of it. I finish at least ten seconds ahead of her.

Atala declares us winner. While Gloss's team sulks on the benches, we celebrate our victory buy tackling each other to the ground. Madge is laughing so hard tears are trailing continuously down her face.

After celebrating for at least ten minutes, Atala blows her whistle. "You guys are welcome to go." I head towards the changing room, but before I open the door, someone taps my shoulder. I turn around to find Cato, who is holding his hand up. "Good game."

"Thanks." I hesitantly hi-five him back.

Cato gives me a small smile which I return after he's turned around.

* * *

When I return home, I find Prim, Lily and another girl that I don't recognize in the living room playing _Sorry_. Prim jumps up and hurries to me as soon as I come in the door.

"Hey, Little Duck." I tease her.

Prim lets go of me and leads the other girl to me. "Katniss, this is my new friend, Rue Okeniyi. Rue, this is my sister Kat." Prim introduces.

"Hi, Rue. Nice to meet you." I shake her hand politely.

Rue giggles and returns the gesture. "It feels so formal."

I laugh. "It kinda does."

"Katniss Everdeen, is it?" Rue asks.

"Yup."

"So, Katniss" Rue says. "Are you back with Cato?"

"Huh?" I ask, surprised. How does she know about my relationship with Cato? My mom appears behind me almost instantly after the words leave Rue's lips. I curse quietly."What relationship?" She asks Rue, focusing on her intently.

"Oh, my big brother, Thresh, he's in Katniss's grade. He's even friends with her. He says that Katniss and Cato were in boyfriend/girlfriends relationship. But -key word- were. He says that they broke up when Cato was supposedly caught kissing with another girl. Then he got mad at Katniss for saying horrible lies about his parents." Rue says matter-of-factly.

"What? He told you all of this? How did Thresh know? How did he know we had that argument…we were alone in the library…" I trail off after I feel my mom radianting off waves of anger.

"I told you to stay away from that bastard." She hissed.

"He is not a bastard!" I yell defensively for Cato's sake."All you said were lies!"

"What?" My mom says, confused.

"Oh, don't give me that look. You heard me."

I ushered Rue, Prim and Lily back in the living room. "You guys stay in there." I order them. They all nod obediently, and turn halfheartedly back to their game.

I close the door behind me, and turn back to face my mom. I still remember her as the woman locked away from the world, always staring blankly at the wall. But her behavior the past few days make me really mad. She's been criticizing Cato all the time, blabbering on about how wasted his parents were.

"Mom, I think you're making all this up." She stares back at me, wide-eyed.

"Uh, Kat, sweetheart, I don't think I'm making it up."

"Just tell me the truth, Mom. It's not that hard."

"The truth is, that Cato's parents are smokers, drug addicts, alcoholics…whatever you can think of. They are murderers. They killed your father. They need to be sent to jail."

"Okay then, Mom. I'll find proof. I'll ask Cato, I'll ask to see his parents. I will prove to you that you've been lying this whole time." I say through clenched teeth.

"No, I'd rather you not-" I cut my mom off.

"If you are so sure you're right, don't you want me to find proof and to show that I'm the wrong one? I'll ask Cato and you can't stop me."

Just in time, Lynn comes down the stairs, humming a melody I can't recognize. I turn around and head upstairs towards my room. My eyes adjusted to the darker room, and instead of entering, I knock on the door next to mine. Clove isn't home. So I was just knocking stupidly, waiting for no one to open the door.

Halfway through my homework, I get yet another text from the unknown number. The wind whistled through the tree branches outside as I retrieved my phone. The lighting in the room was suddenly eerie looking. I shivered.

As I tapped on the little iMessage icon; the text was in uppercase. **I'M RIGHT BEHIND YOU, KATNISS EVERDEEN.** Knee-jerk reaction: scream. All I could do was scream as loud as I could. Then everything turned pitch black.


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry, I haven't updated in FOREVER! And, just to warn you, I don't think I'll be updating over the summer :/. I'm going somewhere where there's no wifi and really rural. And right now I'm studying for finals, sooo…I don't think I'll be updating for a loooooong while. **

**I will have new chapters ready in the beginning of the next school year. I'll be writing all summer when I have the chance :)**

**Well, remember to R&R! Reviews make me super happy :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games**

* * *

I blink wearily and see my mom bending over me, staring at me with concern. "What's wrong?" I groan.

"I heard you scream and I came rushing up the stairs to see you laying unconscious on the floor."

"Oh," was all I could say. "I saw a spider so I freaked out."

"If you say so." My mom shrugs. "I'm just glad you're better, honey."

"By the way, Clove came home just in time." Lynn cheers, pulling her daughter over. Clove laughs uncomfortably, and it comes out as more of a gurgling sound.

"How long have I been out?" I ask.

"Haha, just a few minutes." Lynn says. A few minutes? Wow…I wonder if Clove…?

"Ms. Fuhrman-?"

"Oh, Kat, just call me by my first name, Lynn. It makes me feel so much younger." Lynn says.

"Okay…have you been receiving any strange texts or calls lately?"

"I told you it was Cato!" My mom says angrily. Lynn ignores her and stiffens completely.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Lynn nervously pulls on the hem of her blouse.

"What do they say?"

"Too personal, stalkerish stuff. They seem to know everything about me. Even what my underwear smells like."

"Ew, gross, Mom." Clove starts to slink up the stairs. I'm getting suspicious about my cousin.

"Clove," I call before she steps up.

"Yes?" She asks timidly. I couldn't find a sly way to make Clove tell the truth, so it was short and to the point.

"Are you the one sending the texts?"

"W-what? Me? Oh, of course not! Why would me, I mean I, um…send those thingies to everyone? E-especially to my m-mommy?"

"Your _mommy_?" I repeat.

"Yah, my mommy." Clove nods and sprints up the stairs, not bothering to hear my response.

"She's acting strange lately." Lynn frowns. "I'm getting worried about her."

I get up and stretch tiredly. "Better go finish my homework." No one argues with me as I trudge up the stairs after Clove. I push the door closed behind me and head to my desk, it's getting pretty dark outside. I turn on my desk lamp and study for the Chem test coming up.

After a long night, when I finally finish my homework, I bury my head in one of the fluffy pillows. My life is just messed up.

* * *

Madge greets me by the school entrance the next morning. She jumps up and down excitedly, pulling me over to her as soon as I arrive. "Kat! Kat! My party's tomorrow! I changed the time. Can you go? Please please please?" Madge begs and gives me those famous puppy dog eyes.

"Fine. I have to ask my mom first." I fish my phone out of my back pocket and text my mom. She replies back a second later with a simple, "okay".

Madge squeals and claps her hands like a five year old when she reads the text over my shoulder. "Your mom is A-W-E-S-O-M-E!" If Madge only knew the real story behind my mom.

**Let's time skip to the party! **

Six o' clock was approaching quickly as I got prepared for the party. I put on a sequined red shirt with marching denim shorts. They had a glittery red trim on the edges. My approach was simple and sweet, unlike Glimmer and Cashmere who always had to wear ridiculous outfits.

My phone dinged, and I received a text message from Madge, who was driving me to her house early to prepare for the party. Anyway, Clove refused to drive me there. She said she was carpooling a couple of her other friends. I sensed that Clove just didn't want to face me becuse I caught her in a lie.

Madge honked once, and I sprinted downstairs in my flats. No high heels ever again for me. Her sleek and shiny Dodge Dart was parked in the driveway. I marveled at how clean the insides were as I hopped in the car.

Madge chuckled, clearly amused at my behavior. "I bet even Clove doesn't have a car as awesome as this one."

"She has a Toyota Solara convertible. Complicated names, right? I heard that Cato's car was called a BMW E64 M6 or something like that."Madge nodded in agreement.

After many moons…we finally arrive at Madge's mansion. Boy, it was huge. It was like a modern-day castle. Trees were planted in neat rows along the edge of the long driveway. The garage was seperate from the house. A giant pool house and a circular pool were visible when Madge pulled up into the garage. Clove's house is dwarfed compared to this mansion.

"Wow. Your house is huge." I glanced around, and saw a garden practically as big as Clove's house. The flowers were starting to bloom. Early bloomers, like hyacinths, were already splashing color in Madge's garden.

"So, what are we gonna do at the party?" I expected something like "playing the Wii", or watching a movie, but instead Madge came up with something entirely different.

"I have the dance floor ready, and upstairs will be reserved as a "makeout central". Food will be prepared and stuff. At approximately nine o' clock my parents are leaving for a night out so we won't have parent supervision. I decided to set up a game of Truth or Dare."

"Oh, cool."

I help Madge bake some cookies and I mixed some Sprite with punch. Slowly, Madge's driveway started to fill up with cars as people started to arrive. Madge blasted music through the house while teenagers danced crazily across the floor. Some headed upstairs to the makeout central. Others hung out and chatted while nibbling on food.

Clove arrived ten minutes late with all my friends, and surprisingly, Cato. What was Clove doing with Cato? I see them hug and kiss a bit before going off in their seperate ways. I actually edited that. They didn't hug and kiss for a _little_ bit. I meant a lot.

What were they doing, anyway? What the heck? Are they a couple already? Did Cato forget all about me already? And what about Peeta? Does Peeta know about their relationship? I sniffle a little as a stray tear makes its way down my cheek. I'm wearing makeup. Shoot. I make my way through the maze of hallways until I reach a door that looks like a bathroom door.

Except it's not. Coincidentally, I open it to find Clove and Peeta. Having a heated makeout session. I'm tempted to say, "Get a room, guys!" when they turn around. But instead I face Peeta. "Peeta. I gotta tell you something. Just for a few seconds."

Clove agrees reluctantly, while Peeta follows my lead far away from the tiny room. "Peeta. Guess what I saw when Clove came in?"

"What?"

"Clove and Cato were kissing each other. Having a makeout session just like what you were doing seconds ago."

"Are you serious?" Peeta's eyes burned with fury as I nodded my head.

"You better go talk to her." I suggest. Peeta storms down the hall and I can faintly hear yelling and shouting.

I danced with Madge, occasionally glancing at Cato who was talking halfheartedly to Finnick. I bet he was bragging about how he had the perfect girlfriend, Annie. I grabbed a cookie and headed over to Foxface. She was concentrating on texting Marvel about how good the party is. Sadly, Marvel was sick.

Clove and Peeta still haven't showed up yet when Madge announced for the game to start. Almost all the people left, except for the Career group and my besties. Madge brought in an empty water bottle to spin with. We sat in a circle around in the living room.

"Okay, so. Who's gonna spin first?" Madge asks.

Finn squeals girlishly as he dives for the bottle in Madge's hand. "Me! Me! Finn-Finn the great, of course!" _Finn-Finn?_ I think the name's ridiculous as other people laugh.

"And remember, no stuff that's inappropriate. I want to keep this simple." Madge says.

Finnick spins the bottle and it lands on Madge. She looks surprised. "Me already? Okay, Finn, you don't even need to ask the question. Dare."

Finnick looks around as though he is deep in thought. "I dare you to…crack an egg on your head."

"Okay." Madge shrugs and goes into the kitchen. Moments later, I hear a scream and Madge yelling, "Gross! Disgusting! It's dripping down my shirt!" We all laugh.

The game goes on, and some people make the weirdest dares. Gloss dared Annie to smear peanut butter in one armpit and jelly in the other. She had to wipe it off with bread and eat the "sandwich". Talk about gross. Clove joined in the game awhile later, but Peeta didn't come. The bottle never landed on me.

Until…Cato spun the bottle. It landed directly in front of me. Before his spin, Cato had to put on makeup, so he was covered in it all over his face. I looked at him in disgust as he asks me the question. "Dare." I respond.

Without missing a beat, Cato says, "I dare you to kiss me."

"No. No way. I'd rather die than kiss you."

"Hey, no chickens!" Madge says. She is encouraging me to kiss Cato?

"It's a dare, Katniss. Just get over it and kiss me." Cato interjects.

"In your dreams, Cato. In you dreams." I stand up and walk away, preparing to leave."I'm going home, anyway. I have homework to do."

"It's only nine…" Madge trails off.

"I don't care."

"It's just a game, Katniss. Don't leave." Everyone else pleads. "It's no fun without you."

"It's going to be fine without me. Just continue."

They all give in and Cato spins the bottle do it'd land on someone else. I pull on my jacket and go out the front door. No later after I've walked ten steps I realize that I didn't have a ride. I have three choices: to either go back and continue the game, to walk home, or to call a taxi.


	21. Chapter 21

Hey my awesome readers!

I'm so so so so so so so so so so sorry that I haven't updated for like, what, 3 months?! I travelled to China and the wifi there blocks this site so...

So I just read over my story and I'm like, this story is so cheesy and awful! So actually I'm planning on ditching this story (sorry!) and starting another Cato/Katniss. It's going to be similar, but the plot is different. I'll post it soon.

I also got a Wattpad account, so I think my writing will improve after experimenting on both sites.

Again, I'm super sorry! You can throw anything you want at me!

~frustratedpopcorn


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